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Life of 
Garret Augustus Hobart 

Twenty-fourth Vice-President of the 
United States 



By 

David Magie, D.D. 



Illustrated 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

Zbe "Knickerbocker press 

1910 






Copyright, iqio 

by 
DAVID MAGIE 






Zbe fmfcfterbocber prcoe, IRew Bork 



©CL A 2568 16 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

Garret Augustus Hobart . . Frontispiece 

From a photograph taken during his term as Vice- 
President 

Garret Augustus Hobart ..... 8 
From a photograph taken at the age of fourteen 

Garret Augustus Hobart, Jr. . . . .26 

Son of the Vice-President, and known by his family 
name of "Junior" 

Garret Augustus Hobart ..... 32 
From a photograph taken in his law office 

Carroll Hall ....... 108 

The home of the Hobart family in Paterson, N. J. 

Mrs. Garret A. Hobart ..... 198 

The Memorial Statue of Garret Augustus 

Hobart ....... 242 

Erected by the citizens of Paterson, N. J. In front of the 
City Hall. Designed by Philip Martiny 

The Hobart Mausoleum ..... 246 
Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, N. J. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - BINDING RECORD 

can no. E664.H73M1 ^ tP 11-14-74 

MAGIE 



Author 



Titie LIFE OF GARRET AUGUSTUS HOBART 



Vol. Copy No. of vols, 

Date Block & Item illjU-f j) 197 



Jt Rebind in style B 

Specs. 1 



24-24 (rev 4/72) 






I 









. 




. 






■ 







































PREFACE 

TO few men has it been given — as it was 
given to Garret Augustus Hobart — to rise 
to eminence with so little envy or de- 
traction; to succeed in large enterprises with so 
little strain of effort; to preserve in engrossing 
labors and anxious cares such unruffled serenity 
and sweetness of disposition ; to fill so large a place 
in public affairs and so loving a place in the 
affection of friends and in home life ; to be so highly 
honored, and to die in the fulness of his powers 
and influence so truly lamented. Surely his was 
an enviable lot in life. 

It is impossible to view his life merely as the 
life of a successful business man, or patriotic poli- 
tician. At every point of view, in every period, the 
man stands out more prominent than the circum- 
stances or the station. If his career lacks the ex- 
citing interest of the fierce purpose of reckless 
ambition, and of bitter conflict with rivals and 
conquest over foes, it always possesses the pleasing 
attraction of good nature and cheerfulness, win- 
ning the kindly feelings of an ever-widening circle 
of friends, and sustained in the devoted affection 
of a loving home. 

This personal magnetism not only disarmed un- 



iv Preface 

friendly criticism and prevented bitterness of feel- 
ing in the strife of life, but by its attractiveness 
drew attention from his natural gifts and the 
labors of an exceptionally busy life. The cordial 
demeanor and genuine interest which he showed to 
all who sought him prevented an appreciation of 
his constant occupation, and ofttimes of his weari- 
ness. Every one carried from his presence an 
uplift of life and hope, and even the disappointed 
felt no unkindness. His success neither caused 
surprise, nor aroused fears that he would not be 
equal to any occasion. It was regarded as a 
matter of course that he would succeed in any 
position. Step by step he advanced, filling each 
successive post with honor, until he occupied a 
place among the most prominent men of affairs 
in the social, financial, and political life of the na- 
tion, but he remained unchanged in character and 
in manner. He was not spoiled by fortune or 
fame, praise or power. In every position he re- 
tained his self-possession and his simple purpose to 
act well his part ; and he never forfeited the respect 
and regard of those with whom he was associated. 
It requires an effort to withdraw attention from 
the charm of his personality to his intellectual 
power, his rare sagacity, his practical common 
sense, and to the severe labors by which he built 
on a secure foundation character and reputation. 
To form a just idea of the man requires that he 
should be judged not only by his singular personal- 
ity, which made all who knew him his friends ; but 



Preface v 

also by his industry, sincerity, and independence; 
his quick perception, clear judgment, and frank 
expression; and his saving humor which relieved 
the stress of toil and care. He lived an active, 
cheerful life ; he did true and useful work ; he filled 
with credit the high office to which he was elected, 
and in the height of his career and the maturity 
of his powers, without a murmur of complaint, he 
resigned his life. He left the world better than he 
found it. His name is honorably written in the 
records of his country, and faithfully cherished 
in the hearts and memories of countless friends. 
It is fitting that the story of Mr. Hobart's life 
should be told with loving sympathy. With this 
conception of his character and life, this memorial 
is prepared for those who knew and loved him by 
one who knew and loved him both as his pastor 
and his friend. 

D. M. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 
Birth — Ancestry ...... i 

CHAPTER II 
Early Life ....... 14 

CHAPTER III 
Profession — Marriage ..... 19 

CHAPTER IV 
Professional Life ...... 27 

CHAPTER V 
Political Life ....... 41 

CHAPTER VI 
The Man and the Times ..... 51 

CHAPTER VII 
Convention at St. Louis — Nomination for Vice- 
President ....... 58 

CHAPTER VIII 

Personal Views and Expressions in Reference 

to the Nomination ..... 72 

CHAPTER IX 

Reception of the Nomination in Paterson . 84 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER X page 

The Campaign ....... 95 

CHAPTER XI 
The Election — Removal to Washington . . 107 

CHAPTER XII 
The Home and Home Life in Washington . . 115 

CHAPTER XIII 
Inauguration of the Vice-President . . . 121 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Inaugural Address — Its Reception . . 130 

CHAPTER XV 
The Office of Vice-President .... 138 

CHAPTER XVI 
Mr. Hobart as Vice-President .... 149 

CHAPTER XVII 

Addresses to the Senate — Personal Expressions 

on the Character and Scope of the Senate . 158 

CHAPTER XVIII 
The President and the Vice-President . . 167 

CHAPTER XIX 
Official Position of the Vice-President . . 181 

CHAPTER XX 
Bereavement ....... 189 



Contents ix 

CHAPTER XXI page 

The Social Life of the Vice-President . . 197 

CHAPTER XXII 
Failing Health and Changes .... 202 

CHAPTER XXIII 
The Death of the Vice-President . .212 

CHAPTER XXIV 

The Reception of the News of Mr. Hobart's 

Death ........ 218 

CHAPTER XXV 
Arrangements for the Funeral . . . 226 

CHAPTER XXVI 
The Funeral Services ..... 233 

CHAPTER XXVII 
Subsequent Action by Public Bodies on the 

Death of the Vice-President . . . 242 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

The Character and Services of Mr. Hobart as 

Viewed by his Contemporaries . . . 248 

CHAPTER XXIX 
Closing Words ....... 262 



x Contents 

APPENDICES 

PAGE 

Appendix I. Speeches of Nomination . . . 267 

Appendix II. Notification of Nomination — Senator 

Fairbanks's Speech — Reply of Mr. Hobart . 273 

Appendix III. Garret A. Hobart's Letter of Accept- 
ance . . . . . . . .278 

Appendix IV. List of Official Persons Attending 
the Funeral of Vice-President Hobart at Pater- 
son, New Jersey, November 25, 1899 . . 294 



LIFE OF 
GARRET AUGUSTUS HOBART 



CHAPTER I 
Birth — Ancestry 

GARRET AUGUSTUS HOBART, the 
twenty-fourth Vice-President of the United 
States, was born on June 3, 1844, in the 
village of Long Branch, Monmouth County, New 
Jersey. The house in which he was born still 
stands, though somewhat changed in form, on the 
road leading to Eatontown. His life began in a 
simple home and plain conditions. While frugal- 
ity was a necessary virtue in that home, affec- 
tion, intelligence, and religion elevated and cheered 
its life, formed its habits, and ennobled its aspira- 
tions. This little child was not born to an inheri- 
tance of wealth or station, but to an inheritance 
far better — the inheritance of an honorable name, 
of healthy blood, and of moral instincts. He was 
trained from his childhood with loving and faithful 
care in industrious habits and religious principles. 
With this inheritance and training he made his 



2 Garret Augustus Hobart 

own way through life, the architect and builder of 
his own fortune. 

Three strains of blood from the most vigorous 
nations which have made modern history mingled 
in his veins; and to a remarkable degree he pos- 
sessed the most characteristic qualities of each 
one. His father was of English stock, and from 
him he inherited a sturdy spirit, strength of pur- 
pose, and practical judgment. His mother was 
of mingled Dutch and French Huguenot stock, and 
from her he inherited the industry and persever- 
ance of the Dutch and the affectionate nature, 
the buoyancy of heart, and the religious tendency 
of the Huguenots. These inherited traits under 
the incentives of American opportunities made him 
the man he became. His life is simply the develop- 
ment and use of his natural gifts trained under the 
acceptance and control of wholesome laws. It 
seemed to him, as he said, "easy to succeed." 
So regularly and normally did he make progress, 
it seemed to others — as men often said, — due to 
"good luck." But in addition to his qualities 
and opportunities there can always be discerned in 
his life the determining factor of a moral force, 
which spared no labor, admitted no defeat, em- 
ployed every available agency, and could be 
satisfied only with the fullest result. 

The first Hobart whose name appears in the 
annals of this country, was Edmund, who, when 
he was sixty years old, came from Hingham, Nor- 
folk County, England with his wife, Margaret 



Birth — Ancestry 3 

Dewey, and three of their younger children, and 
a man servant, Henry Gibbs. All the rest of the 
family of eight children, with the exception of one 
who died in infancy, followed their parents across 
the ocean within a few years. Edmund Hobart, 
after a voyage which lasted almost three months, 
landed at Charlestown, Massachusetts, May 
3, 1633. He remained in, or near, Boston for about 
two years. It seems certain that the cause of his 
emigration was the persecution, which was the lot 
of all who adopted Puritan views in those days. 
Soon after his arrival he united with the Congrega- 
tional Church, and by this act became qualified 
under the laws of the colony to vote and to hold 
office. When the Rev. Peter Hobart, his son, came 
to this country in 1635, the whole family, including 
those who had come in this interval, moved to 
Bear Cove, about twelve miles south of Boston, and 
changed the name of the place to Hingham. 
There Edmund Hobart became a Commissioner 
of the Peace, and from 1639 to 1642 represented 
the town in the General Court. He died in 1646. 
Of him and his wife, Cotton Mather says in his 
Magnolia Christi Americana, published in 1702: 
"They were eminent for piety, and feared God 
above many. " 

The Rev. Peter Hobart was a graduate of Mag- 
dalene College, Cambridge. After serving as a 
teacher for a short time, he was admitted to holy 
orders in 1627, and became the rector of a church 
according to some records, at Haverhill, Suffolk 



4 Garret Augustus Hobart 

County, but according to his tombstone, at Hing- 
ham, England. Being persecuted for his Puritan 
views and in danger of losing his living, if not his 
life, he resigned his charge, came to this country 
with his wife and four children, and settled at 
Hingham, Mass., where he organized a Congrega- 
tional Church, of which in 1635 he became the 
pastor. He was a man of considerable learning, of 
determined independence, and of some combative- 
ness. He came into conflict with the colonial 
authorities over the question whether the rite of 
marriage should be a civil or an ecclesiastical 
ceremony. In dread of the power of an established 
church, from which many of them had suffered 
persecution, the authorities at Boston had or- 
dained by law that the marriage ceremony should 
be performed by a magistrate. This law the Rev. 
Peter Hobart opposed and violated, even going 
so far as to accept an invitation to preach in 
Boston on the occasion of a marriage. There can 
be little doubt that he gave a frank expression of 
his views in his discourse at that time. For this 
open defiance of authority he was summoned be- 
fore the Governor and Council, and was condemned 
to pay a fine of two pounds. When the marshal 
attempted to collect this fine, he was resisted. 
Declining to attend on a second summons from 
the court, he was brought before the Council by a 
constable, and for his contumacy was fined 
twenty pounds, and required to give bonds for 
good behavior for twice that amount. This was 



Birth — Ancestry 5 

a heavy burden for a man whose salary was only 
seventy pounds, which was afterward and perhaps 
on this account, increased to fourscore pounds. 
History does not tell whether the fine was ever 
paid, but it adds to the record that when he 
was sentenced "his spirit rose" — a result con- 
trary to the usual effect of a fine in modern times. 
Like his father he was twice married. He had 
seventeen children. Five of his sons were gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, and four of them became 
clergymen. In the cemetery at Hingham, is a 
stone on which is this inscription: 

In memory of 
Rev. Peter Hobart who died January 
20th in the 75 year of his age 
and 53 of his ministry 9 years 
of which he spent in Hingham 
Great Britain and 44 in Hingham 
Mass. 

Cotton Mather also writes of him: "His heart 
was kind in sincere and earnest love to all pious 
men. He admired the grace of God in all the good 
though they were of sentiments contrary to his 
own." On the first page of a journal, in which 
he kept the church records, he wrote: " I with my 
wife and four children came safely to New Eng- 
land June ye 8, 1635 forever praysed be the god 
of Heaven, my god and King. " Milton speaks 
of this class of men, who for conscience's sake left 
home and country, as " faithful freeborn English- 



6 Garret Augustus Hobart 

men and good Christians, constrained to forsake 
their dearest home, their friends and kindred, and 
whom nothing but the wide ocean and the savage 
deserts of America could hide and shelter from the 
fury of the bishops. " 

The oldest son of the Rev. Peter Hobart was 
Joshua, who was born in England, was graduated 
from Harvard, and became the pastor of a church 
at Southold, Long Island, in 1674, and remained 
in that office for forty-three years. President 
Stiles said of him: " He was an eminent physician 
and divine, and in every way a great and learned 
and pious man." On his monument at Southold 
is this inscription : " He was a faithful minister, a 
skilled physician, a general scholar, a courageous 
patriot, and to crown all an eminent Christian. " 
His third son, the Rev. Nehemiah Hobart, was 
settled as pastor over the Church at Cambridge 
Village (Newton) in 1672, and died in that office 
in 1 712. On his tombstone is this epitaph: 
" In this tomb are deposited the remains of the 
Reverend and very learned Teacher of Divinity, 
Nehemiah Hobart, an estimable fellow of Harvard 
College and watchful pastor of the Church of New- 
ton for forty years. His singular gravity, humility, 
piety and learning rendered him the object of 
deep veneration and ardent esteem to men of 
science and religion. " 

In the fourth generation two of the Rev. Peter 
Hobart 's descendants were men of special note. 
John Henry Hobart became rector of Trinity Par- 



Birth — Ancestry 7 

ish in New York City, and later the honored and 
beloved Bishop of the State. He was one of the 
founders of the General Theological Seminary in 
New York City. His remains rest beneath the 
chancel of Trinity Church. His character and work 
are perpetuated in Hobart College at Geneva. John 
Sloss Hobart was a distinguished lawyer, who in 
1775 was a member of the provincial convention 
and in 1798 became United States Senator from 
New York, and afterward a judge of the District 
Court of New York City. Successive generations 
of the Hobart family furnished numerous teachers, 
and occasionally a preacher, but for the most part 
thev were plain, honest farmers, who served God 
and their country in their generation, and left be- 
hind them good names, large families, and small 
estates. 

Roswell Hobart, one of these descendants, for 
reasons now unknown, moved to New Hampshire, 
and settled on a farm in Columbia Valley, Coos 
County. He, like many of his ancestors, was 
blessed with a large family, too large to be all 
supported on the farm. One of his sons, Addison 
Willard, fixed upon New Jersey as a suitable place 
for his residence, and found employment as a 
teacher of a school in Marlboro, Monmouth 
County. Here he married Sophia Vanderveer at 
her home a short distance from the village. 
With his wife and oldest son, in 1841 he moved 
to Long Branch, and established a school in a 
building of a single story, which stood on the 



8 Garret Augustus Hobart 

present site of No. i Primary School. He con- 
ducted this school with faithfulness and success, 
assisted by Margaret Vanderveer, his wife's sister. 
He was one of the founders of the First Reformed 
Church of this place, and a member of its consistory. 
A few of his pupils survive, who remember him as 
a zealous teacher, of kindly manners and of fine 
appearance. In 1852 he returned to Marlboro, 
where he opened a store, and in addition conducted 
a farm. He died in Marlboro in 1892. 

The history of the family of Mr. Hobart 's mother 
runs on nearly parallel lines of fact and faith with 
those of his father. The same fidelity to religious 
principles, the same endurance of persecution and 
flight to a land of refuge across the ocean, and 
the same successful struggle with new conditions 
are found in both the maternal and paternal lines 
of his ancestors. Sophia Vanderveer, his mother, 
was born near the famous battle-field of Monmouth 
Court-House, where Washington displayed his 
military genius, and was carried into an outburst 
of uncontrolled indignation at the pusillanimity 
of Charles Lee. She was the daughter of David 
G. Vanderveer and Catharine Du Bois. Her 
grandfather had suffered severely by the cruel 
depredations of the marauders from the mercena- 
ries in the army of Sir Henry Clinton during the 
campaign of the British in the Jerseys. Many a 
Tory became a patriot from the sufferings inflicted 
upon them by those whom they befriended. 
Neither the Vanderveer family nor the Du Bois 



m m 




Birth — Ancestry 9 

family needed such cruel dealings to make them 
patriots in those days of trial. 

David G. Vanderveer was a descendant from 
Cornelis Janse Van der Veer (son of John from the 
Ferry), who arrived at New Amsterdam on the 
ship "Otter" in 1659, from Alkmaar, in North 
Holland. He settled in Long Island where he was 
a magistrate from 1678-80. There he married 
Trintje, (Catharine) daughter of Yelles (Giles) de 
Mandeville, whose father had also escaped from 
persecution in France by the way of Holland. 
This class of immigrants added greatly to the 
industries of that period by their knowledge of 
the manufacture of textile fabrics. From Long 
Island some of their descendants settled in New 
Jersey; a part in the region about Paterson, and 
others in the southern counties. 

Catharine Du Bois was the daughter of the Rev. 
Benjamin Du Bois, one of the remarkable men 
of his day, who served his God and his country 
with zeal and fidelity. He was the pastor of the 
two Reformed Churches of Freehold and Middle- 
ton for sixty-three years, and one of the founders 
of Queens — now Rutgers — College, and a member of 
its Board of Trustees from 1 783 to 1827, the year of 
his death. During the trying period of the Revolu- 
tion he sought to rouse his parishioners to defend 
the liberties of the country, and on the invasion of 
the State by the British troops put on his knapsack 
and carried his musket with his people to the 
field of battle. He died at the ripe age of eighty- 



io Garret Augustus Hobart 

eight years. His wife lived to be ninety-six 
years old. 

The Du Bois family can be traced back in his- 
tory for centuries. In 1380, there is an authentic 
account of a Peter Du Bois in Flanders, who led 
the people in a conflict with the nobles. The head 
of the family in this country was Louis Du Bois, 
born about 1630, who escaped from persecution 
in France to Mannheim, Germany, and from that 
place came to New Amsterdam on the ship St. Jan 
Baptist in 1661. At Mannheim he married a 
French refugee Catharine Blancon. With others 
of his faith and language in 1663 he settled on a 
grant of 36,000 acres made to twelve patentees, of 
whom he was the leader. His oldest son was 
also a patentee. This land was in the region of 
Kingston, New York. There they established a 
church of their own order, of which Louis Du Bois 
was the first elder. An authentic account of a 
thrilling event connected with this family is pre- 
served in a letter sent by the Court at Wilt Wych — 
Wild Village — now Kingston — to the Council of 
the New Netherlands colony at Manhattan. In 
an unexpected attack made by the Indians on the 
settlers in that region, the wife and three children 
of Louis Du Bois were made captives. The 
sachems of the Indians had been invited by 
direction of the Council to come to the settlement 
to renew the existing treaty of peace. In answer 
to this summons the Indians on the appointed day 
appeared in scattered bands, and distributed them- 



Birth — Ancestry 11 

selves in the houses of several settlements before 
the hour appointed, under pretext of selling 
trinkets and vegetables. Suddenly they began to 
slaughter the women and the children in the houses 
in several of the hamlets, and to set fire to the 
dwellings. A number of the settlers were shot 
down in the streets as they rallied and seized their 
arms. Fighting for their homes and families, 
they finally beat off the Indians, who in their 
retreat carried away many captives. Hampered 
with the care of the prisoners and expecting an 
attack from the enraged colonists, for which they 
were making preparations by the erection of a 
fort on an open hill, many of the children were 
killed, and several among the captives were con- 
demned to die. Mrs. Du Bois, one of this number, 
was fastened to a stake around which wood was 
piled, and fire was about to be applied to consume 
her body, when, with rare faith and courage she 
began to sing the French metrical version of the 
One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Psalm, the wail 
of the Babylonish captives. Awed by her courage 
and interested in the strange sounds, the execution 
was delayed. A pursuing band, in which was her 
husband, heard her voice and was guided to the 
spot. They vigorously attacked and drove away 
the Indians, and rescued the brave woman. This 
account is confirmed in a journal kept by Captain 
Martin Kregier, who commanded a detachment sent 
from Manhattan by the Council to avenge the set- 
tlers. A grandson of Louis Du Bois moved to New 



12 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Jersey, and settled on a tract of land of twelve 
hundred acres in Salem County. He was the 
grandfather of the Rev. Benjamin Du Bois. 

Of these early settlers of New England, Daniel 
Webster said: 

Poetry has fancied nothing in the wanderings of heroes so 
distinct and characteristic. Here was man unprotected and 
unprovided for, on the shore of a rude and fearful wilderness, 
but it was politic, intellectual, and educated man. Every- 
thing was civilized but the physical world. Institutions, 
containing in substance all that the ages had done for human 
government, were established in a forest. Cultivated mind 
was to act on uncultivated nature, and more than all a 
government and a country were to commence with the very 
foundations laid under the divine light of the Christian 
religion. Happy auspices of a happy futurity! Who 
could wish that his country's existence had otherwise 
begun ? Who would desire to go back to the age of fables ? 
Who would wish for an origin obscured in the darkness of 
obscurity? Who would wish for other emblazonings 
of his country's heraldry, or other ornaments of her 
genealogy, than to be able to say that her first existence 
was with intelligence; her first breath the inspiration of 
liberty; her first principle the truth of divine religion? 

From such ancestors, men of faith and courage, 
piety and patriotism, Garret A. Hobart inherited 
those qualities which made him the man he became, 
and enabled him to fill the place which he occupied 
in his day and generation. They wrote their lives 
and names in the history of their adopted country, 
as generations after he wrote his name higher in 
the history of the country he loved and served. 



Birth — Ancestry 13 

When he became a national character he was urged 
to have a search made of available records of his 
ancestors, with an intimation that he might be 
able to trace back his father's family to one of the 
noble families of England. To this he replied: 
4 ' All I care to know is that my ancestors were plain, 
honest people, however poor or humble they may 
have been. " 



CHAPTER II 
Early Life 

THERE is seldom much of general interest 
to record in the life of a healthy boy in a 
well ordered home. This was true in the 
childhood of Mr. Hobart. In the events of a quiet 
village, in the labors and cares of a household 
where economy was necessary, and in the daily 
influence of religious instruction and example, 
weeks became months, and months years, with 
few changes to mark the progress of time. For 
this young lad it was a happy period of healthy 
growth under wise and loving training. 

Three children in that home survived the period 
of infancy. Erasmus, the oldest, died in early 
manhood. The youngest, David Roswell, died 
a few years after his illustrious brother. Garret 
Augustus was the mother's boy, and the one who 
gave to the home most of its life. Between this 
lad and his mother there was a very tender relation. 
She loved to have him near her, and he loved to be 
by her side. He always sought the occupation 
which would be helpful to her and make him her 
companion. And she sought amid her household 
cares to train the mind of the lad as well as to 
14 



Early Life 15 

inculcate moral lessons. She instituted a home 
spelling match in which each in turn should give a 
word to be spelled to the other. Miss Georgiana 
Vanderveer, who was at that time an inmate of 
that home, recalls the mother's cheerful laugh as 
the little boy in a thin piping voice gave out in 
turn to his mother the hardest words he could 
think of. In the Sunday-school of the church in 
which his parents were members, and his father 
one of the consistory, he was carefully taught the 
catechism of the Reformed Church. The long 
and difficult answers of the Heidelberg catechism 
were learned with ease and recited with precision 
by this boy at a very early age, to the delight of 
the minister, the Rev. Ralph Willis. 

His school education began at a period earlier 
than usual, probably from the fact that his father 
was at the head of the school. He seems to have 
had a place in the schoolroom for at least part of 
the day before he was five years old. After the 
removal of the family to Marlboro, the young lad 
was sent to a school in that village under the care 
of a Mr. Shaw and later of a Mr. Ball. There he 
made such rapid progress that he was placed in 
the same class with his older brother. Alfred D. 
Van Doren, now living, was also a member of that 
class. He remembers his classmate as a good 
natured boy, who faithfully and easily mastered 
his lessons, and who cheerfully helped others in 
their difficulties. He was usually the leader of one 
of the opposing sides in the school games. His 



1 6 Garret Augustus Hobart 

ready and tenacious memory was remarked even 
in that day. His studious habits and quick 
perceptions led his father to give him the best 
educational opportunities of that region, and he 
was sent to a school of note at that time, kept 
by W. W. Woodhull in Freehold. Between the 
teacher and the youthful scholar some difficulty 
arose, and the lad left the school one day with the 
announcement that he would never come back. 
That there must have been some justice on the 
boy's side seems evident from the fact that his 
father, who from his own experience knew the 
importance of sustaining the authority of the 
teacher, did not compel him to return. He was 
then sent, as a five-day boarder, to a school at 
Matawan, kept by James W. Schermerhorn. In 
this school he made such progress that he was 
prepared to enter college in his fifteenth year. 
His return each Friday to his home kept alive 
all the associations so important for the youthful 
character, and was a delight to both the mother 
and the boy. He was always careful to have his 
mother informed as to what he would like to find 
on the table on his arrival. He is remembered by 
one who was at school with him, as "a bright 
lovable boy and always at the head of his class. " 
As it was not thought advisable that he should 
enter college at so early an age, he spent a year 
at home after his school days were ended. He 
seems to have filled this interval with some review 
of his studies, and with occasional employment in 



Early Life 17 

the store of Morford & Vanderveer. It was a 
matter of course that he should enter Rutgers 
College, an institution under the control of the 
Reformed Church. In his sixteenth year he was 
matriculated in the sophomore class of that in- 
stitution. His college life was spent in faithful 
work and pleasant fellowship. His relations with 
his fellow students were always cordial, and both 
in their recreations and labors he held a prominent 
place. He had entered college for the purpose of 
gaining an education, and that purpose was never 
forgotten. As a student he made good use of his 
time and opportunities. He was graduated in his 
nineteenth year the third in his class, with the 
honors of the prize in mathematics and the 
English oration. He received his diploma from 
the hands of Theodore Frelinghuysen, — the first 
Vice-Presidential candidate from New Jersey, — 
who was defeated with Henry Clay in 1844, the 
year in which Mr. Hobart was born. 

Some idea of his serious view of life at this period 
is obtained from a composition written in his 
college course. Its subject is "Latent Mental 
Power. " He writes : " Nor can those germs which 
lie dormant in the mind be fully developed without 
the most persistent efforts on our part to cultivate 
the higher faculties of our nature, and embrace 
every opportunity for elevating our moral char- 
acter. " The Rev. Thomas O'Hanlon, one of his 
classmates, wrote these words in loving memory 
of him after his death: 



1 8 Garret Augustus Hobart 

He was a hard student, yet he was so gracious in his man- 
ner, so considerate of the members of his class, so ready 
to help any of us who might call on him for assistance in 
lessons — which was often done — that we not only esteemed 
him, but loved him. His good record as a student, and a 
gentleman with a character without a blemish, placed him 
easily among the very first of the class of 1863. We who 
knew him best expected him to make a success in life, 
and we have not been disappointed. His name adds lustre 
not only to the class and to the college, but to the state and 
to the whole country. 

To his alma mater Mr. Hobart was always loyal, 
and in his later years he made generous contribu- 
tions to its funds. During his Vice-Presidency 
the college conferred on him the degree of Doctor 
of Laws, and elected him a trustee. He accepted 
the office with a full purpose to become an active 
member of that body, and to serve the institu- 
tion with fidelity. The rapid progress of the 
disease which ended his life prevented him from 
meeting again with the trustees. 



CHAPTER III 
Profession — Marriage 



"& 



AT the end of his college course, Mr. Hobart 
found himself not only without means of 
support, but in debt for a small amount. 
His first effort in life was to free himself from this 
obligation. As the most ready way to do this, he 
accepted the offer, made by his father's neighbors, 
to take charge of a parochial school about a mile 
and a half from his home. The building in which 
this school was held stood upon the grounds of the 
"Old Brick Church " in Marlboro. This proposal 
was a clear indication of the respect and confidence 
of the community in this young man, only nineteen 
years old, and known familiarly to them all from 
his childhood. Under these circumstances, to be 
made the teacher of those who had in many in- 
stances been his companions became for him a 
certificate of character. One of the advantages of 
the situation was that it enabled him to live at 
home. He rode on horseback each morning to 
the school. His compensation was to be at the 
rate of one dollar a month for each scholar. 
Small as was the fee, it is reported that all were not 
able to pay it. Nevertheless, at the end of three 

19 



20 Garret Augustus Hobart 

months he had in hand one hundred and ten 
dollars, with which sum he was able to discharge 
his indebtedness, and was thus free to enter on his 
chosen profession. Thirty-three years later, one 
of his scholars, John W. Herbert, a lawyer of New 
Jersey, sat as a delegate from that State in the 
Republican National Convention at St. Louis, and 
had the pleasure of casting his vote for his former 
teacher as the nominee of the Republican party 
for Vice-President. And this act was equally a 
pleasure to Mr. Hobart, who said, when told of the 
fact: "It is doubly gratifying to have those who 
have known you longest honor and respect you. " 

In a speech made at New Brunswick at a Con- 
gressional Convention held prior to the National 
Convention, Mr. Herbert said: "Whoever may be 
selected as our candidate for President in the 
coming contest, I know I voice the sentiments of 
every Republican within the hearing of my voice, 
and in the State of New Jersey, when I express 
the hope that Garret A. Hobart may be nominated 
for Vice-President." 

In his choice of a profession, Mr. Hobart was un- 
doubtedly influenced by the success as a lawyer 
of Socrates Tuttle, an old friend of his father; 
and by his offer to take him into his office and home 
during the period of his legal studies. The life- 
long friendship of Addison W. Hobart and Socrates 
Tuttle began in New Hampshire, where they 
played together as children, attended the same 
school, and shared the same seat. When Mr. 



Profession — Marriage 21 

Tuttle followed his friend to New Jersey to seek 
his fortune, he naturally sought the advice and 
assistance of the friend already settled there. 
The former intimacy was renewed and continued, 
and was strengthened by frequent visits after 
both were married. It was this warm feeling 
of lifelong friendship which led them, half in jest, 
to make a covenant in their early married life 
that their children should marry. Unlikely as 
it may have seemed, even to them, this is what 
came to pass. 

Socrates Tuttle, in whose office Mr. Hobart 
studied law, was one of nature's noblemen, and 
one of the noblest of that considerable class of 
men in this country, who without the advantages 
of a liberal education, by labor and self-denial and 
indomitable purpose have raised themselves out 
of unfavorable conditions to honorable and useful 
positions. He deserves a place in these records, 
both as one who exerted a strong influence on the 
life and character of Mr. Hobart and as the father 
of his wife, who was so intimately connected with 
his happiness and success. The training of that 
home, where public affairs and especially political 
affairs were daily discussed with interest, where 
the newspapers were read with attention, and 
where prominent men came for consultation, fitted 
the daughter in a remarkable degree to be a help 
to her husband in his career. 

It is worthy of notice that the lines of descent 
and influence, which met in Mr. Hobart's life 



22 Garret Augustus Hobart 

and helped to mould his character, came in his 
wife's family also from the same period of this 
nation's history and from persons in similar 
circumstances and of very similar characteristics. 
The first members of the Tuttle family came to 
this country in 1640, and one of the two brothers, 
John, settled at Ipswich, Mass. His descendants, 
though they were industrious and intensely loyal 
to their adopted country, never greatly prospered 
in material things. Lieutenant Jonathan Tuttle, 
the grandfather of Socrates, served with distinction 
in the Revolutionary War, and with his regiment 
took part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. 
Horatio Tuttle, his son, after learning the trade 
of blacksmith at Bath, New Hampshire, removed 
to Coos County in the same State. His children 
and the children of A. W. Hobart, thus became 
schoolmates. He had nine children, all of whom 
lived to maturity. With so large a family, it 
became necessary that the older boys should early 
be put to work. 

Socrates Tuttle, the fourth child, was thus 
called at an early age to do the work of a man. 
He shrank from no kind of labor. He worked in 
his father's forge, he labored as a farm hand, he 
served as a teamster, he toiled in a brick yard. 
All the education which he received was in the 
winter terms of three months in the neighborhood 
school. In after years, when he was the Mayor 
of Paterson, and one of the most prominent lawyers 
in the State of New Jersey, he used to point with 



Profession — Marriage 23 

commendable pride to an ox chain which he had 
forged with his own hands and which was placed 
conspicuously over the door of his office. Such a 
man of tireless energy and earnest purpose could 
not be contented to spend his life in mere manual 
labors. As others of the family grew up, he be- 
came free to consider his own interests. Naturally 
he thought of the friend of his early days with 
whom he had been in communication, and sought 
his advice and aid. Through him he received 
an offer to take charge of a school at Blueball, 
Monmouth County, New Jersey. This offer, which 
assured an immediate support, he gladly accepted, 
and the two friends became again residents of the 
same county in the same State. His most inti- 
mate friend in the village was a young lawyer, 
whose influence led the teacher after three years' 
service to take up the study of the law. Realizing 
that his opportunities would be better in a larger 
place, and in the meantime a brother having 
settled in Paterson, he moved to that city and 
began his legal studies. In 1848, he was admitted 
to the bar, and in a few years he secured the respect 
and confidence of the community, gained a large 
practice, and was recognized as one of the leading 
lawyers of the State. He served two terms in the 
Legislature, but he loved his profession more than 
political honors and declined other nominations. 
As a lawyer he made his reputation. A ready 
speaker, clear in thought, possessed of genuine 
humor, untiring in work, ingenious in appeal, he 



24 Garret Augustus Hobart 

always exerted a powerful influence over a jury. 
No more honored citizen ever lived in Paterson. 
Broadminded, generous to a fault, interested in 
all the activities of the city, outspoken and in- 
tensely loyal, a faithful member and officer in the 
First Presbyterian Church, he lived a noble and 
useful life, and died beloved and lamented by all 
who knew him. Seized with severe pain about 
his heart while in his office, he ascended to his 
room, and in less than a half-hour this vigorous 
man, so full of life, had passed into the life beyond. 
He died at the age of sixty -six, February 12, 
1885. 

It was in the office, and under the example and 
training of Mr. Tuttle, that Mr. Hobart pursued his 
legal studies. He came to Paterson with sturdy 
health, a college education, and a determined 
purpose to make his own way in life. Practically 
he was without money, and there was no one on 
whom he could or would depend. Through this 
period of study he supported himself by unstinted 
labors. Far into the night, and night after night, 
he worked making copies of legal papers. He 
served for a time as a clerk in the First National 
Bank of the city, then recently established and 
only entering on its successful history. Little did 
he dream that he would ever become one of its 
most valued directors and one of its largest stock- 
holders. In one way and in another he preserved 
his independence, and supported himself until his 
student days were over. No life ever disproved 



Professio n — Marriage 2 5 

more clearly the idea that success is a matter of 
chance. Opportunity came to him, as it comes to 
all, but it found him ready to seize it with fixed 
habits of labor, with knowledge gained by experi- 
ence, and with an open, generous mind. He was 
always ready to see and to take the next step. 
He was licensed to practise law on June 7, 1866; 
in June, 187 1, he became counsellor-at-law, and 
was made a master in chancery in 1872. His up- 
right character, his industry, his fidelity in matters 
intrusted to him, and his genial manners gained 
for him friends and clients. By an increasing 
practice and by offices to which he was elected, 
his prospects became so encouraging that he was 
ready to enter into the compact which had been 
made by the parents of both parties before they 
were born. On the twenty-first day of July, 
1869, Garret Augustus Hobart was married at her 
father's home to Jennie Tuttle. 

Rarely has a more happy and congenial marriage 
taken place. From the modest beginning of their 
early married life to its end in high public station, 
their lives were united in unbroken affection and 
unity of purpose. Their aims and aspirations were 
alike in home life and in public activities. The 
training of her early life gave Mrs. Hobart sym- 
pathy with and interest in his public life. Her 
active mind and ready wit, trained in one of the 
best schools in the State, made her an influence in 
the social life connected with their station. But 
while thus fitted to adorn her station, she was a 



26 Garret Augustus Hobart 

true home-maker. She enjoyed home life, and 
with warm hospitality welcomed her friends to 
share her pleasures. No one could enter their 
home without feeling it was a privilege to have a 
place in its life. No small measure of Mr. Hobart's 
success was due to the love and cheer, the advice 
and help of the wife who made his home what it 
was. 

In this home two children survived infancy, and 
added to the joys and hopes of their parents. 
Fannie Beckwith Hobart, of sweet and gentle mem- 
ory, died abroad under sad circumstances, as will 
be told later. Garret Augustus Hobart, Junior, 
who during his father's term of office became widely 
known by his home-name " Junior, " has a son who 
is another Junior, born August 24, 1907. Garret 
Augustus Hobart married Caroline Frye, daughter 
of Frank H. Briggs, of Auburn, Maine, and 
granddaughter of Senator William P. Frye of 
Maine, whose services in the Senate as its Presi- 
dent pro tempore, and as a Senator, will be long 
remembered. 



CHAPTER IV 
Professional Life 

THE active life of Mr. Hobart was spent in 
the city of Paterson, and with its develop- 
ment his history is most intimately con- 
nected. This city, founded in 1792, three years 
after the adoption of the Constitution by the Col- 
onies, was selected by Alexander Hamilton on 
account of its valuable water power, derived from 
the falls of the Passaic, as the place where the 
manufacturing interests of the infant republic 
could be best established and developed. It had 
become a town of great importance as a manu- 
facturing centre, and this fact exerted a decided 
influence in determining the line of Mr. Hobart's 
work in his profession. He early saw that the de- 
velopment of the industries of the country would 
require legal form and direction. In the conditions 
of this city he learned the need of the times and 
his true sphere of activity, and to Paterson he al- 
ways felt he owed much of his success. In this city 
he studied his profession and carried on its practice ; 
in this city he married and made his home ; in this 
city he gained friends and fortune and fame ; and in 
this city he died, its most honored and beloved 



28 Garret Augustus Hobart 



£> 



citizen. To this city of his adoption he gave loyal 
devotion, and in fullest measure was his affection 
returned. No one of its citizens could call more per- 
sons by name, and no one was more widely known. 
He seemed to know every one and to be known 
by every one. It may be said without qualification 
that he had not an enemy among all its citizens, 
and not one of them envied his success. For every 
one whom he met he had a pleasant word, and to 
every one in trouble an open hand. They felt 
they shared in his success and honors, because he 
always showed he shared in their labors and cares. 

In the days of small things, when he was 
struggling to make a living and establish a home, 
he gladly and gratefully accepted cases in the 
lower courts, and public offices of small importance. 
The small fees and salaries derived from these 
sources were all of moment to him at this time. 
So faithful was he in these duties and responsibili- 
ties that each in turn became a stepping stone to 
something higher. His industry and fidelity, 
his genial manners and heartfelt interest in others, 
gained friends as well as clients and supporters. 
In the confidence and affection of those with 
whom he had to do, he laid a foundation on which 
he could securely build. 

The records of his life at this time show continu- 
ous advancement year by year. In 1865, he was 
appointed by Justice Bedle, of the Supreme Court, 
clerk for the grand jury. In New Jersey the 
Common Law of England is still preserved as the 



Professional Life 29 

rule of practice, and this office is one of grave im- 
portance. He performed its duties with such 
ability that he received the thanks both of the 
court and the grand jury. He was elected a 
judge of election in 1868 in the Fourth Ward of 
Paterson, and was allowed for two days' services 
four dollars. When in 187 1 the Republicans 
carried the city and elected Socrates Tuttle 
Mayor, he was chosen counsel for the city, and 
in the following year counsel for the Board of 
Chosen Freeholders. In this same year, 1872, he 
was elected a member of the Assembly, the 
lower house of the Legislature, was re-elected 
the following year, and was chosen by that body 
to be its speaker in the session of 1874. So 
spontaneous was this selection by his party 
that he was left absolutely untrammelled in his 
appointment of the committees. At the close 
of this session he was presented by the mem- 
bers of the Assembly with a portrait of him- 
self, painted at their order and accompanied by 
cordial expressions of their regard and esteem. 
Great pressure was put upon him to allow his name 
to be presented by his party for a third term of 
service. He positively declined the honor, as 
contrary to a long established precedent. Though 
refusing to be a candidate himself, he gave all the 
strength 'of his influence to the election of his 
Republican successor. Yielding to the demands 
of the party, he accepted the nomination for State 
Senator in 1876, and was elected by the largest 



30 Garret Augustus Hobart 

majority ever given up to this time in the district, 
a majority greater than that given to Hayes for 
President by one hundred per cent. He was re- 
elected in 1879 by a still greater majority, and 
was chosen President of the Senate in the sessions 
of 188 1-2. He was the first one in the history of 
the State to fill the two offices of Speaker of the 
House and President of the Senate. He became 
Speaker when he was thirty years old, and Presi- 
dent when he was thirty-seven. During the 
terms of his service in the Legislature he was placed 
on many of its important committees, where his 
work was of great advantage to the State in the 
enactment of wise laws and in economy of 
administration. 

His labors at this time were necessarily centred 
on the work of his profession. He was the lawyer 
rather than the politician. It was true as he said 
of himself at that time: "I make politics my 
recreation. " While the facts of this time have 
a place here, the estimate of his services in' these 
offices which he filled will find a place more ap- 
propriately in his political career, to which the 
following chapter is devoted. 

It is an evidence of his common sense that he 
perceived clearly the line of work in which a lawyer 
of his talents in the conditions of that day was 
most likely to succeed. It was always a matter of 
regret to him that he was not fluent in utterance, 
and that he did not possess the gift of oratory. 
Whenever he did speak, he always commanded the 



Professional Life 31 

interested attention of his audience from the good 
sense and good feeling in what he said. But while 
not lacking in self-confidence, he was singularly 
diffident in addressing an audience, or pleading 
a case in court. For the intricacies and technicali- 
ties of great constitutional questions he had no 
predilection. On the other hand, he had an 
aversion to practise in the criminal courts. He 
selected for himself instinctively the field for 
which he was best fitted, and in consequence he 
rarely appeared in the courts. His office was the 
place of his work. Though he had not an ex- 
haustive knowledge of the law in its technicalities, 
he had such an intuitive perception of legal 
principles, and such a clear and practical view of 
questions under consideration, that his advice was 
oftentimes more valuable to his clients than the 
well weighed opinions of men whose technical 
knowledge exceeded his. He naturally became the 
counsellor, rather than the advocate. However 
complicated were the matters submitted to him, 
he seemed by instinct to find at once the clue to 
make them clear, and with almost unerring judg- 
ment to point out the practical way to accom- 
plish the desired results in accordance with legal 
principles. He thus became an invaluable ad- 
viser in business affairs and in the organization of 
business projects. While others might say, " I 
will consider and advise you, " he, on the other 
hand, gave advice almost on the spur of the 
moment, and rarely was he found to have erred. 



32 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Everything he approved and planned seemed 
to succeed. 

His power to work at this time seemed unlimited. 
So under control was his mind that he could turn 
without confusion of ideas from one matter to 
another. It was said of him that " no man in the 
State could attend to so many affairs and slight 
none of them." At any moment in his office he 
could stop to welcome a friend, to answer a ques- 
tion, to give consideration to another matter, and 
at once resume the subject on which he had been 
engaged. In the days when stenographers were 
unknown, he was said to be able to dictate to three 
clerks at one time. He early formed the habit, 
as he said, of "not doing boys' work. " His time 
and strength could be better employed than in 
doing the petty work of an office. And he formed 
the habit, of far greater importance to the happi- 
ness of his family and the enjoyment of his friends, 
of leaving his work and worries behind him in the 
office. Even in his most laborious days he never 
appeared overworked, or overburdened with cares. 

As the confidence of the community in his in- 
tegrity and capacity for business was confirmed 
by his life and success, more and larger affairs were 
intrusted to him. He was appointed guardian, 
executor, and trustee in numerous instances. 
His reputation gradually extended beyond the 
bounds of his city and State. Large affairs came 
to be placed in his'hands. He was appointed with 
James W. McCullough, receiver for the New 



Professional Life 33 

Jersey Midland Railroad. A little later, as the 
sole receiver, he paid a dividend even to its un- 
secured creditors, as well as at the very beginning, 
before settlement with the preferred creditors, 
paying the wages of the employes then long due. 
He helped, as its president, to reorganize the road 
under the name of the New York, Susquehanna 
& Western; and left it a paying enterprise in 
good running order. For his care for their inter- 
ests he received the thanks of the workingmen 
whom he had protected. He was appointed 
receiver for two other railroads, the Montclair, 
and the Jersey City & Albany. His most note- 
worthy service as receiver was in the case of the 
First National Bank of Newark, whose affairs 
were found to be in great confusion. John 
Sherman, then Secretary of the Treasury, ap- 
pointed him to take charge of the settlement of its 
complicated matters. In six months he collected 
from its assets nearly $500,000, paid the depositors 
in full, and divided the remainder among the 
stockholders. For this achievement he was com- 
plimented in high terms by the Comptroller of the 
Currency. During this period of business activity, 
Mr. Hobart became connected, as counsel, director, 
or president with large public enterprises designed 
for the conservation and development of natural 
resources for public benefit. It was largely due 
to him that various smaller companies were com- 
bined in a great scheme to impound the surplus 
of the streams in the watershed of northern New 



34 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Jersey, and to supply the growing cities of Jersey 
City, Newark, Passaic, and Paterson with pure 
water. He became the president of the Passaic 
Water Company, which took over the rights of the 
Society for Useful Manufactures in the water of 
the river. He became later the president of this 
society, familiarly known as the S. U. M., which 
owed its existence to Alexander Hamilton. Its 
corporate life began in 1791. Under his manage- 
ment there was erected at Little Falls an immense 
filtration plant, where the water is subjected to 
daily tests to insure its purity. It is believed no 
purer water is supplied to any city in the country 
than that which is used by Paterson. He became 
president of the Acquackanonk Water Company, 
and was connected with several other companies, 
which were afterward consolidated into the East 
Jersey Water Company with the object of supply- 
ing, at a cost of $6,000,000, the city of Newark. 
In carrying out the contract with Newark it was 
found the delivery pipe from the reservoir was too 
small to meet the requirements. The work neces- 
sary to fulfil the contract, it was calculated, would 
cost $250,000. Some mistake had been made 
by the engineers, and the company was severely 
blamed, and even accused of fraud. 

In a public letter, addressed to the citizens of 
Newark, Mr. Hobart frankly admitted the mistake, 
and proposed a remedy which would benefit the 
city and carry out the terms of the contract One 
of the paragraphs of this letter closes with the 



Professional Life 35 

words, "We alone suffer; our misfortune is your 
opportunity. . . . We spared no pains or expense 
to secure the most skilful agents and use all the 
data and experience at our command; in fact 
we did all in our power to meet our contract 
obligations. " The letter ends with these words, 
characteristic of its writer: "These statements, 
which I make by authority, ought to convince 
your people that the East Jersey Water Company 
is not so bad a corporation as it has been repre- 
sented to be, and that it has no disposition to 
shirk or even shrink, from the performance to the 
fullest measure of its obligations, whatever loss 
this may impose on its stockholders. " 

Mr. Hobart was actively interested in the various 
street railway companies of Paterson, and had 
much to do with their consolidation as electric 
lines. A full list of all the companies with which 
in some capacity he was connected cannot now be 
obtained. Even a partial list might be tiresome. 
But in no other way can an adequate idea be 
given of the multifarious interests he carried on 
his mind. In addition to the corporations already 
named he was a director of the Morris Co. Rail- 
road, the Lehigh and Hudson; of the First National 
Bank and the Savings Institution of Paterson; 
of the Barbour Brothers' Thread Company; the 
Pioneer Silk Company ; of the Montclair, Highland, 
and Long Branch Water Companies; and of the 
Gas and Electric Power Companies of Paterson. 
He was the counsel for the East Jersey, and for 



36 Garret Augustus Hobart 



&■ 



the West Milford Water Companies; and treas- 
urer of the Cedar Lawn Cemetery Company, and 
the Cedar Cliff, Citizens', and Hamilton Land 
Companies. So widely had he come to be known 
as an organizer and director, that his name was 
sometimes placed in lists of directors without his 
knowledge. This was notably the case in the 
formation of a company to build a great suspen- 
sion bridge across the Hudson to bring into the 
heart of the city of New York the trains of the 
various railroads coming to the opposite shore of 
New Jersey. Though the scheme never came to 
completion, his name was placed among a list of 
eminent engineers, bankers, and railroad officials. 
It is said that he was at one time connected with 
sixty corporations. 

Nothing showed more clearly the reputation 
which he had gained among the business men of 
the country than his appointment, without his 
solicitation or even knowledge, by the representa- 
tives of thirty of the largest railroad corporations 
of the country, to be one of three arbitrators to 
settle matters in dispute between them. Ques- 
tions of the rates of these competing companies 
had led to serious charges and injurious conflicts, 
which affected their relations, diminished their 
earnings, and unsettled the business of the country. 
To relieve these conditions the great trunk lines 
formed the Joint Traffic Railroad Association, 
which represented roads worth billions of dollars. 
At a meeting of their representatives they agreed 



Professional Life 37 

to appoint three arbitrators, to whom should be 
submitted all questions in dispute as to traffic, 
passenger and express rates, whose decision in each 
case should be final and binding. The men, 
selected for these purposes, and clothed with these 
great powers, were General Cox, the veteran of the 
Civil War, Ex-Governor of Ohio, and Secretary 
of the Interior under General Grant; James F. 
Goddard, who had also served in the Civil War, 
and since then had risen from a humble employe 
to be an important official in railroad service ; and 
Garret A. Hobart. The plan failed in its purpose, 
partly because of the fears of the smaller companies 
and partly because of the jealousies of the larger 
ones. It was finally declared unconstitutional by 
the courts. But the appointment of Mr. Hobart 
to such an office showed the position he had come 
to occupy in the eyes of men noted for their 
shrewdness, sagacity, and success. He resigned 
this post on taking his place as President of the 
Senate of the United States after his election to 
the Vice- Presidency. In the eulogy which was 
pronounced in the Senate by Chauncey M. Depew 
on Mr. Hobart's life and services, he said: 

By unanimous vote the representatives of these in- 
terests [the thirty railway companies] selected G. A. 
Hobart as an arbitrator. There could be no more significant 
tribute to his unfailing judgment, tact, and character than 
the remarkable fact that there was never an appeal from his 
decisions, nor complaint of their fairness and justice. In 
this demonstration is found the secret of his success. It 



38 Garret Augustus Hobart 

was characteristic of the man, that possessing the far- 
sighted faculty, and having the sense and training to keep 
the curb of caution upon the promptings of acquisitiveness 
and imagination, he drew a large circle into his plans, and 
all shared in the profits of his undertakings. 

With this great load of work and responsibility- 
resting upon him, his genial manners and friendly 
spirit remained unaffected. He was gaining a 
fortune and filling a large place in business and 
political affairs, but his character and manner 
remained unchanged. It would be a mistake to 
suppose he did not fully recognize his changed 
conditions, and that he did not cherish a laudable 
ambition to rise still higher. He saw, as clearly 
as any one, that fortune and station were within 
his grasp, but he steadily pursued his way on the 
sure lines of industry and fidelity. He neither 
hastened nor loitered on the way. The scale of his 
activity was enlarged, but the rules remained the 
same. Others might speak of his good luck; he 
knew the success which he had gained was due to 
the confidence of the community and to hard 
work. Something like a presentiment of the future 
seemed to influence him, but he never ceased to 
attend to the work in hand with diligence and 
fidelity. Wealth, position, and influence came to 
him, not as the result of self-seeking, or of making 
gain out of others' losses, or political chicanery, 
but from unremitting work, great business capa- 
city and unfailing good nature. His work was not 
destructive, but constructive. He was not a 



Professional Life 39 

wrecker, but a builder. By the corporations in 
which he was interested the public was benefited, 
and the volume and profits of business were in- 
creased. In all he did and gained he never 
sacrificed a friend, or pursued a rival with scorn 
or invective. If he had an enemy, he did not know 
it. His friends he cherished with sincere regard, 
and his home was always to him the dearest spot 
of earth. 

Something of the controlling principles of his life 
can be gathered from his own expressions. He 
was asked by a reporter after he had become Vice- 
President what a young man must do to succeed 
in life. He replied : " Success is not hard to attain. 
I believe any young man can succeed, if he will 
rigidly observe two rules : one is to be at all times 
strictly honest ; the other is to be industrious and 
economical. It has been my practice never to 
spend more than I made." In a brief address 
made to the students of Rutgers College in New 
Brunswick, on the occasion of the one hundred and 
thirtieth anniversary of the college, and at the 
time of his acceptance of the office of trustee, 
he said: " It is the habit of my life not to accept 
office when I do not fulfil, or attempt to fulfil, the 
obligations connected with an office tendered or 
accepted. And so, in accepting this trusteeship, 
I promise to do what I can, be it little or much, for 
the college I have always loved, and whose welfare 
I have always had at heart. " This purpose for his 
alma mater was not carried out as he had intended. 



40 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Though his untimely death prevented him from 
carrying into effect his purposes, his gifts to 
the college have been of substantial help in its 
work. 



CHAPTER V 
Political Life 

WHEN Mr. Hobart said: "lama business 
man; I engage in politics for recreation, " 
he meant to express a fact. His life 
bore witness to the truth of his words. Deeply as 
he engaged in politics, business had always the 
first consideration in his mind. When he seemed 
greatly occupied with political affairs, they were to 
him, at the most, a change of work, and work which 
he thoroughly enjoyed. He played politics, as 
the great game of great men, with serious enjoy- 
ment. The laborious part — the strife in conven- 
tions, the work at primaries and the polls — he did 
not undertake. To plan a campaign, to set in 
operation political forces, to forestall opposition, 
to utilize ambitions and even prejudices was not 
to him labor, but enjoyment. As in his profession, 
he was the counsellor in politics and not the advo- 
cate; and here also he refused to do "boys' work." 
His wide acquaintance with men, his knowledge 
of human nature, his accurate judgment, and his 
supreme tact made him a power in the field of 
politics, first in his county, then in the State, and 
finally in the nation. After he became Vice-Presi- 



42 Garret Augustus Hobart 

dent, he gave expression to his views of the duty of 
young men to enter into political life in these words : 
" I believe that every American citizen should take 
part in politics. The salvation of our country, in 
fact, rests upon our young men. They should 
take part in all elections, and especially should they 
attend the primaries. It is there that the chief 
chances for fraud are found, and the more we pay 
attention to the minor elections, the purer will our 
politics be. I believe it pays a young man to do 
this. It gives a man new acquaintances, and 
brings him into contact with business men, and 
with those on whom he has to depend for his 
living. It identifies him with the community in 
which he lives, and it is in all ways a good thing." 
The Hobart family had always been affiliated 
with the Democratic party, and the section of the 
State in which he was brought up was overwhelm- 
ingly Democratic. When the family decision was 
made that this son should go to Paterson and enter 
the office of Socrates Tuttle, ex-Governor Parker 
warned his father that the step would lead his son 
into the Republican party. To this warning Mr. 
Tuttle made the significant reply: "That was 
done when he was sent to college." The young 
student began his political life on his own convic- 
tions as a Republican, and he never wavered in 
his political faith and allegiance. The issues at 
stake in the momentous days of his youth, as well 
as the ardent Republicanism of his instructor, 
settled the question as to the party in which he 



Political Life 43 

should enroll his name, and to which he should give 
unwavering and unstinted devotion. From that 
party he received great honors, and to it he gave 
great services. 

So manifest and efficient were the services of Mr. 
Hobart, and so evident was his popularity, all 
that his party had to offer was his for the asking. 
His nomination made his election sure. The only 
instance in which he was defeated, was when he 
accepted the complimentary nomination for United 
States Senator in a strongly Democratic legislature. 
When he was asked how he felt in such an unusual 
position, his reply was: "I do not worry about 
matters that do not come my way." In a short 
time he became the most influential leader of his 
party in the northern section of the State. The 
southern section was dominated by General Sewell, 
who possessed great influence both through his 
connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and 
his friendship with President Harrison, as well as 
through his own ability. He and Mr. Hobart were 
regarded by the public as rivals, and interested 
persons sought to excite jealousy in their minds. 
When General Sewell sought re-election as United 
States Senator, an effort was made to have Mr. 
Hobart contest the nomination in his own interest. 
His reply to this proposal was: " I am very much 
obliged to my friends, who occasionally find some 
vacant office, which they think I ought to have. 
But I can tell you how I would feel if I were in 
General Sewell 's place. If I had once filled the 



44 Garret Augustus Hobart 

office as creditably as he has ; and if I had noticed, 
as he must have done, that my services ought to be 
rewarded by another term in the United States 
Senate, I should consider it presumptuous on the 
part of anybody to endeavor to take away from 
me that to which I was so clearly entitled. As a 
citizen, as a Republican, as a soldier, and a faithful 
worker in the Republican cause, no one deserves 
more success than does General Sewell. I shall 
not expect to complicate my friends by asking them 
to cast complimentary votes for me." This gener- 
ous and friendly attitude prevented a rivalry 
which would have affected the strength of the 
party, and perhaps it led later to the suppression 
of opposition to Mr. Hobart's plan to seat John 
W. Griggs, his friend and townsman, in the 
Governor's chair. In a series of talks between 
these two leaders on their homeward journey from 
Europe this question was discussed, and by the 
agreement then made, Mr. Griggs's nomination 
was made certain. 

There can be no question that Mr. Hobart had a 
strong desire to became a United States Senator. 
But strong as was this desire, he would not attempt 
to gratify his ambition by defrauding another of his 
deserved honor, nor was he willing to gratify his 
honorable ambition by ignoble methods. When in 
1883 a successor was to be elected to the late Sena- 
tor John R. McPherson, the Democrats had on 
joint ballot in the Legislature a small majority. 
There was, however, disaffection in their ranks, and 



Political Life 45 

five of the Democratic members approached Mr. 
Hobart with an offer to vote for him. These votes 
would have secured his election. But honor was 
stronger than ambition in his mind. He informed 
them that if they did not vote with their party 
he would release enough Republican votes to make 
the re-election of Mr. McPherson sure. 

His rule of political action was fair play, even 
when resentment might be excused. A Democrat 
who had said some untrue things against him was 
seeking reappointment on a bi-partisan board of the 
State. One who desired the position asked Mr. 
Hobart to use his influence with Governor Griggs 
against the reappointment, on the ground of these 
injurious remarks. He replied : " This person who 
holds the position is a Democrat from principle 
and a good fellow. If he dislikes me that is his 
error. I will advise the Governor to reappoint 
him." 

In the political campaign of 1896, Mr. Hobart 
was persuaded with some difficulty to make a 
short tour through New Jersey, and to speak in 
some of the principal towns. The trip was grati- 
fying to him, as well as to the State leaders. He 
was received everywhere with cordiality, and made 
short but helpful speeches at various points. He 
was especially gratified with an enthusiastic recep- 
tion at Long Branch. " I thought," he said, " the 
Long Branch people had forgotten long ago that I 
ever lived among them." His cheerful face, his 
pleasant voice, his well-chosen words, and his 



46 Garret Augustus Hobart 

deep convictions gave interest and weight to his 
speeches. Although when it was over he said: 
" Thank Heaven that is all done with, " it was 
evident that he enjoyed the experience. He added, 
with a smile," I did pretty well, after all, did n't I ? " 
As a member of the Legislature of New Jersey 
in both Houses, Mr. Hobart took a leading and 
influential part in the discussions and actions of 
these bodies, and rendered eminent service to his 
State. In the political book prepared for the 
McKinley campaign an important part of this 
service is thus described: 

When he first served in the House, although one of the 
youngest members, he immediately took a leading part. 
The most important bill of that session (1873) was the 
General Railroad Law, which was designed to do away with 
the monopoly, which had for so many years made New 
Jersey a byword and reproach to all travellers across her 
soil. This measure of relief had been strenuously fought 
for many years by the lobbyists, but Mr. Hobart was one 
of its foremost supporters in the interests of the citizens of 
the entire State. So just and beneficent was this law that 
no corporation has ever dared to ask its repeal. 

This service, connected with his frank and genial 
manner, led, more than anything else, to his elec- 
tion as Speaker of the Assembly in the following 
year. As chairman and member he served on 
important committees of both Houses; and in a 
period when some of the ablest men of the State 
were in the Legislature, he stood among the fore- 
most. He was chairman of the Judiciary Com- 



Political Life 47 

mittee for several terms, and was a member of the 
Committees on the Revision of the State Laws; 
on Industrial Schools; on Printing; on Fisheries; 
on Elections; on the State Library. Speaking 
of the period when he was the Speaker of the 
House, an influential newspaper of the State said: 
" The political machinery of the State never ran 
more smoothly or creditably, and members of the 
'third house' with axes to grind never ran up 
against so many difficulties as they did in that 
year of grace. The hand of Mr. Hobart was not 
distinctly visible, but every jobber in legislation 
knew that it was on the throttle." 

In his services in the Legislature he sought to 
reduce excessive official fees and expenses, and 
opposed special legislation. He obtained the en- 
actment of a law, whereby, on the application of 
twenty-five freeholders to a judge, a summary 
judicial investigation of the affairs of a county 
might be made. This law has proved of great 
practical benefit in more than one instance. He 
was instrumental in the passage of an act which 
charged the sinking fund of the State with the 
yearly payment of all the interest, and a part of 
the principal of the State debt. This act was the 
cause of the removal of the State tax, and was the 
means of an annual saving to the State of one 
hundred thousand dollars. Through his efforts a 
commission was appointed to devise plans for the 
encouragement of the manufacture of ornamental 
and textile fabrics in the State. It has been the 



48 Garret Augustus Hobart 

means of inducing many manufacturers to locate 
their mills in New Jersey. This act led also to the 
establishment of a Bureau of Labor and Statistics. 
He strongly urged, but in vain, the passage of a 
bill for the arbitration of labor disputes. He 
brought about the enactment of a measure of 
great importance during the panic of 1873 to those 
who had built modest homes, lessening the costs 
of foreclosure and protecting the owner against 
undue pressure by his mortgagee. 

As presiding officer in both the Assembly and 
Senate he won the approbation and esteem of both 
Houses and men of all parties in the State by his 
dignity in office, his knowledge of parliamentary 
law, his fairness, and his tact and courtesy. 
Rarely was an appeal taken from his decisions, 
and in no instance was the appeal sustained and his 
decision reversed. His good nature was unfailing, 
and his political opponents became personal friends. 
And this was not because he did not have convic- 
tions, nor because he was unwilling to speak freely 
of men and measures. He was frank in his 
expressions at all times, but his frankness was 
without meanness or venom. When a newspaper 
wrote to him asking his opinion in a political 
matter, he began his reply with these words: "I 
give you my opinion with pleasure, because there is 
no political nor mental reservation about it what- 
ever." Faithful to his own party and fair to the 
opposing party, he made and kept friends on all 
sides. One of the newspapers of the day said at 



Political Life 49 

the close of the national political campaign: 
"He made friends on both sides of the fence." 
To no man is the credit due for the change of the 
political status of New Jersey more than to Mr. 
Hobart. Previous to this period New Jersey was 
regarded as a safe Democratic State. From 1852 
to 1892, with two exceptions (in i860 when the war 
between the States divided its vote, and in 1872 
when Horace Greeley was the nominee of the 
Democratic party), the ten electoral votes of the 
State had always been cast for the nominees of 
that party. In 1892 President Cleveland received 
a plurality of 15,000; in 1895 Governor Griggs 
received a majority of 29,000. The change began 
to be manifested in 1893, when one of the Houses 
of the Legislature had a Republican majority, 
and in 1 894 it was plainly evident, for both Houses 
were strongly Republican. In this year the State 
sent to Congress a solid delegation of eight Repub- 
licans and elected one Republican Senator. The 
final conflict was in the election of 1895, when 
the first Republican Governor since Marcus L. 
Ward's election in 1865 was chosen. In the 
Republican Convention of the State, Mr. Hobart 
in a speech of only two minutes put in nomination 
for Governor, his warm friend, John W. Griggs. 
He took charge of the management of the cam- 
paign. The canvass of Mr. Griggs was spirited 
and thorough. The character, ability, and elo- 
quence of the candidate gave a tremendous impe- 
tus to the movement, which settled the question 



50 Garret Augustus Hobart 

with which party New Jersey was now to be 
enrolled. 

For a few years Mr. Hobart held no official post, 
but he was not an hour out of the service of his 
party. From 1880 to 1891 he was chairman of the 
State Republican Committee. He resigned this 
post on the State Committee because of his heavy 
duties in the National Committee, to which he had 
been elected in 1884. In this committee he re- 
fused to become chairman, but served during 
several campaigns as vice-chairman and a member 
of the executive committee. With Chairman 
Stephen B. Elkins and B. F. Jones he bore a 
large part in the severe labors of the Blaine 
campaign. The New York Graphic, a Democratic 
paper, speaks of him as "the brainiest, shrewd- 
est, and most virile man on the committee in the 
Harrison campaign." It adds: "Politically there 
is no Republican in New Jersey as strong as this 
sturdy, bright faced, genial gentleman. " As 
delegate at large he attended the Republican con- 
ventions from 1876 to 1896. His name was men- 
tioned for many offices during this period, both in 
the Cabinet and in some Embassy; but he never 
pressed his claims on the party he was serving so 
faithfully. And yet, while he was content to serve 
without reward, it is evident that he was becoming 
known in politics, as he was in business, as a man 
of character and ability, who could honorably and 
usefully fill any post to which he might be called. 



CHAPTER VI 
The Man and the Times 

NO life can be estimated aright unless its 
environment is taken into account. The 
fullest life demands the fullest opportunity. 
The man must be found for the hour, but equally 
the hour must come for the man. Both the 
natural gifts and the training of Mr. Hobart 
fitted him to take an important part in the chang- 
ing conditions of the times in which his active 
life was passed. Through the waste and ex- 
haustion of the Civil War, now ended, the nation 
in the establishment of peace had come to the 
parting of the ways in its political and economic 
life. Its energies and resources, which had been 
absorbed in the struggle for national existence, 
were now released to find new fields of operation. 
The arrested development of natural resources, 
the demands for the well-being of city life, and 
the establishment of new industries called for the 
combination of wise and safe plans, large capital, 
and united efforts. The scale of activity had 
become immensely enlarged. Individual powers 
and capital could not meet the exigencies of the 
51 



52 Garret Augustus Hobart 

new conditions. Men of probity and sagacity, 
of courage and legal knowledge, who could com- 
mand confidence, were needed to unite genius and 
capital for these new and necessary enterprises. 
The movements of vast armies over wide fields, the 
fearful loss of life and waste of materials, the ex- 
penditure of enormous sums, and the risks of an 
immense debt had prepared the way for the adop- 
tion of large schemes, which involved hazard and 
required courage. Great projects were in the air, 
which would require years for accomplishment. 
Corporate action was a necessity of the times. 
The problem of the hour was to unite men of 
ideas and men of means in legal association under 
competent management so as to secure profitable 
results and retain public confidence. In such en- 
terprises the savings of the working man and the 
wealth of the capitalist must be united in effort 
and in risk. 

For such a condition of affairs Mr. Hobart was 
pre-eminently fitted. He had strict integrity, broad 
views, legal knowledge, wide acquaintance with 
men, and what was also necessary, the confidence 
of men of large capital. As his work on these lines 
was crowned with success in one undertaking after 
another, he was sought for counsel and direction 
by individuals and associations. And so highly 
were his opinions and practical plans valued that 
he became the counsel, the director, and the 
president in many of these corporations. In the 
very nature of the case, as in their inception, these 



The Man and the Times 53 

movements were not at once widely known. He 
gained an assured place and character in financial 
circles, as he did in political circles, before he 
became known to the nation. Gradually, but 
surely, he had acquired such an honorable reputa- 
tion that his connection with an enterprise was 
regarded as an assurance of its soundness and 
success. However rapacious, and even dangerous 
some trusts have become, it is unquestionable that 
corporations were at that time, and are now, a 
necessity for the development of our national re- 
sources, and the safe and profitable employment of 
the capital of the poor as well as the rich. 

Mr. Hobart's views on these points can be ex- 
pressed in his own words at the time of his election 
to the Vice- Presidency: 

The chances of fortune-making to-day are as good as 
when I started in life. We are on the edge of great changes 
in many lines. Look at the electric possibilities of to-day. 
What a field there is in electricity for fortune-making in the 
future! There is no telling what it will not accomplish, or 
what changes it may not make. Corporations and aggre- 
gations of capital do not make it impossible for a poor man 
to climb up. The rich man of to-day is the poor man of 
to-morrow. Fortunes are accumulating and disintegrating 
all the time. There are thousands of men making fortunes 
to-day. There are thousands who will lose them to-morrow. 
It is brains and work that tell. It has always been so, and 
it will always be so. I do not fear we will ever have a party 
of the rich and a party of the poor in this country. 

In the great business movements of his day Mr. 
Hobart found his sphere of action, and gained fame 



54 Garret Augustus Hobart 

and fortune. The crowning point of his career 
was when he, almost simultaneously, was appointed 
one of three arbitrators by the Joint Traffic Rail- 
road Association, and when, under his manage- 
ment, the State of New Jersey was revolutionized 
in its political views and placed in the column of 
the Republican party. The public recognition of 
his character and work, which placed him in the 
Vice-Presidential chair, was only the formal act of 
his coronation. It needs to be repeated that for- 
tune and fame, influence and station, came to him 
not as a lucky chance, or as the result of consuming 
ambition, or at the expense of others' losses; but 
as the result of faithful work never relaxed, a wise 
choice of the field of his efforts, a sagacious and 
practical judgment, and a winning personality 
which secured the regard and confidence of those 
with whom he had to do. The steps by which he 
ascended were hard work, good will, sound judg- 
ment, and steady perseverance. 

Busy public man as he had now become, he still 
held a distinct place in social life and in the domes- 
tic circle. He never lost his genial, sunny nature, 
his kindly disposition, his enjoyment of humor. He 
attracted persons to him in all the relations of life. 
The weighty responsibilities he had assumed did 
not destroy his power to enjoy the truest pleasures 
of life among his friends and in his home. He 
loved his home, and turned always to it as the 
dearest spot on earth. There all care was laid 
aside, and in the circle of the family he found 



The Man and the Times 55 

rest and enjoyment. With his changed circum- 
stances the home life had broadened, but it 
ever retained the same open-hearted hospitality. 
Rarely was business spoken of in the home circle, 
and still more rarely was mention made of his 
successes and honors. He enjoyed life, and was 
glad to share his happiness with others. Few 
even of his most intimate friends knew how large 
a place he was filling in the great activities of the 
times. He spent no weary hours in anxious schemes 
or in tiresome efforts to advance his personal in- 
terests. He never appeared as a suppliant for 
favors. To those about him he was the same quiet, 
genial, neighborly man he was before his pros- 
perity. He felt and took an interest in those 
about him, and in the affairs of the city in which 
he lived. He could always stop to say a pleasant 
word to a friend or to speak some word of sym- 
pathy to a poor man, whose name he always knew. 
He could do an act of kindness in such friendly 
spirit that it seemed a favor to him to accept it. 
He was interested in the benevolent and church 
work of the city, and ready to aid all who sought his 
help with his means. From its organization to 
the day of his death, he was a member of the 
Board of Trustees of the Church of the Redeemer, 
and the beautiful name which it bears was given 
to it at his suggestion. 

It would be a mistake to suppose that during this 
period Mr. Hobart had no consciousness of his own 
powers, and of the position which he occupied with 



56 Garret Augustus Hobart 

its great possibilities. He had an honorable ambi- 
tion to do his part in the work of the world and to 
enjoy a just reward from his labors. No right 
minded man could fail to have such a desire. 
But ambition, as it is usually understood, had 
no place in his heart. He was never ready to 
sacrifice the happiness of his home, or his good 
name, or his peace of conscience to gain wealth 
or place. He would do his best in the opportuni- 
ties of life, and welcome what reward might come. 
To those who knew him best — and to these this was 
an afterthought — there seemed to be in his mind 
an undefined presentiment that a larger place was 
to be his. But this feeling never appeared in 
pretension, or in self -consuming efforts, and never 
led him to barter honor for honors. He was ready 
to pay the cost of labor for success, but not 
of humiliating flattery or deceitful words. Un- 
doubtedly he realized his star was in the ascendant, 
but he was not unduly elated on the one hand, nor 
on the other hand did he shrink in fear from respon- 
sibilities and obligations. He pressed no claims 
for services rendered on business or political friends. 
He made no effort to be conspicuous, or to ingra- 
tiate himself with the populace. He enjoyed fully 
the present and awaited with composure the future. 
When he was honored with praise and position, 
he suffered no weak elevation of mind or change of 
manner. To those who met him daily he appeared 
unchanged. He was as truly a friend to all about 
him as ever. The words of the Great Teacher 



The Man and the Times 57 

found in him a new illustration. His ability and 
influence were more fully recognized for a time 
by those without than those within his own 
city. 



CHAPTER VII 

Convention at St. Louis — Nomination for 
Vice-President 

AS the time approached for the Presidential 
election in 1896, the customary discussion 
of men and measures was taken up in the 
newspapers. The various State and city elections 
immediately preceding were scanned with interest 
by the leaders of both parties for indications of their 
relative strength. In New Jersey the elections had 
not been so favorable for the Republican party as 
they were in the remarkable campaign of Governor 
Griggs. To hold the State in the Republican 
ranks was an important matter for the party. 
The Republican leaders in the State realized that 
this could be done, if one of its citizens should have 
a place on the national ticket. Their thoughts 
and efforts were directed to this end. And 
Mr. Hobart was naturally selected for their candi- 
date on account of his popularity and political 
influence. 

The Republican State Convention which met at 
Trenton, on April 16th, recognized fully this con- 
dition, and was a unit in favor of presenting Mr. 
Hobart's name for the Vice- Presidency, and indeed 
53 



Convention at St. Louis 59 

for the Presidency, if there should appear any way 
to obtain the nomination. As this appeared 
doubtful, a large majority favored the nomination 
of William McKinley for President. A motion 
was made in the convention to instruct the dele- 
gates from New Jersey to vote for McKinley and 
Hobart, as the nominees of the party. This 
motion was opposed with vehemence by General 
Sewell, who declared he would not accept an 
election as delegate, if the delegation were to be 
committed to specific candidates by the conven- 
tion. His stand was taken not in opposition to 
Mr. Hobart's candidacy, but on the ground of 
custom and policy. The delegates uninstructed 
could couple Mr. Hobart's name with any success- 
ful nominee for President, but under the proposed 
instruction the nomination of Mr. Hobart must 
depend on the nomination of Major McKinley. 
It was well understood at the time that General 
Sewell strongly favored the nomination of his 
personal friend ex- President Harrison, who was 
favorable to Mr. Hobart's nomination. When Mc- 
Kinley was nominated Harrison sent word to the 
delegates from Indiana to vote for the New Jersey 
candidate. The action finally taken by the State 
convention shows the feeling of its members, and 
was as follows : 

Relying upon the discretion of our delegates to voice the 
preference of the Republicans of New Jersey in the Na- 
tional Convention, we refrain from hampering their action 
by specific instructions, indulging at the same time the 



60 Garret Augustus Hobart 

hope that redeemed New Jersey may be represented on the 
national ticket in the person of the Honorable Garret A. 
Hobart. 

It ought to be added that the whole delegation, 
with one exception, was enthusiastically in favor 
of Mr. Hobart, and labored with zeal and wisdom 
for his nomination, and that the vote for him in 
this convention was unanimous. 

In the list of names presented in the newspapers 
as favored in their several States and worthy of 
nomination, were the names which were afterward 
presented in the National Convention: Thomas B. 
Reed, of Maine, who had been the very effective 
Speaker of the House of Representatives ; William 
B. Allison, of Iowa, who as Congressman and now 
Senator had served in Congress for thirty-five 
years ; Levi P. Morton, of New York, who had been 
a member of Congress, Minister to France, Vice- 
President of the United States, and Governor of 
New York; and William McKinley, of Ohio, who 
had served with distinction as an officer in the 
Civil War, had been both Congressman and Sena- 
tor, Governor of his State, and was the author 
and promoter of a tariff bill which bore his name 
and was deservedly popular. As time passed, and 
these men were discussed as available candidates, 
it became increasingly evident that Major Mc- 
Kinley led them all in popular favor. Before the 
convention met enough instructed delegates from 
important States had been chosen to make him 
the assured nominee for President. Linked as his 



Convention at St. Louis 61 

name was with Mr. McKinley by his party, Mr. 
Hobart personally did not advocate any one for the 
Presidency. But he showed his political acumen 
by expressing his high regard for Major McKinley, 
and even more by declaring that despite the senti- 
ment in the country 7 in opposition to a third term 
for any President, Ex- President Cleveland was the 
strongest candidate whom the Democrats could 
present to the nation. 

A still longer list of names was printed in the 
papers as possible candidates for Vice-President. 
The New York Herald published the names of 
twenty persons, who had been thus brought before 
the country. Among them some had been favored 
for the Presidency as well. From this list there 
were nominated in the Convention: Morgan G. 
Bulkley, of Connecticut, who had been Mayor of 
Hartford for four consecutive terms and Governor 
of the State; H. Clay Evans, of Tennessee, who 
had been a soldier in the Civil War, member of 
Congress, and First Assistant Postmaster-General ; 
Charles Warren Lippett, of Rhode Island, then its 
Governor; General James A. Walker, of Virginia, 
who had been a Confederate soldier and was then 
the only Republican member of Congress from his 
State; and Garret A. Hobart, the story of whose 
life has been so far told. 

If the men, both fit and willing to serve their 
country in these high offices, were many, the im- 
portant issues dividing party opinion were few. 
The campaign of 1896 was fought on two main 



62 Garret Augustus Hobart 

issues. One was the ever- recurring question of the 
tariff, belittled by a question of graver importance 
at this time. The latter issue had importance on a 
moral side as well as a political. This was the 
question of an honest standard of value in the 
country ; whether, with almost all commercial na- 
tions, it should be based on gold alone, or whether 
it should be a dual and unstable standard of gold 
and silver. It is difficult now to understand how 
there could be such a question raised and ad- 
vocated by so many intelligent persons. It is 
to-day a dead issue. It was at that time a very 
living one. To estimate its serious character, it 
will be necessary to review the situation at that 
period. 

To meet the enormous expenses of the Civil War, 
the Government was compelled to issue Treasury 
bonds, pledging the nation for their payment after 
specified dates, the understanding being that they 
should be paid on a gold basis. It is certain on 
no other basis could these bonds have been floated. 
As these issues increased in number and amount, 
the value of gold continually appreciated, until 
at its highest point it reached a premium of almost 
300 per cent. The result necessarily was the dis- 
appearance of gold from circulation. It was in 
demand for payments due to other nations, and 
it was hoarded by individuals and institutions. 
For years the great majority of the people of 
this nation never saw a gold coin, and handled 
few silver ones. As a medium of circulation, 



Convention at St. Louis 63 

Treasury notes, even of smallest value, took the 
place of gold and silver. With the establishment 
of peace and the revival of trade, the difficulties 
of the situation constantly increased. To meet the 
need of a circulating medium, silver now came 
to be largely employed, and the mining of silver 
became an important and profitable industry in 
the Western States, especially in Colorado, Mon- 
tana, and Nevada. When it became necessary 
for the country to decide on what basis the bonds, 
issued during the Civil War on a gold standard, 
should be redeemed and business should be 
transacted, the cry was raised from the silver- 
producing States for the recognition of silver as 
well as gold as a standard of value. The ratio 
of valuation was fixed in the demand at sixteen of 
silver to one of gold. This cry found an echo in the 
minds of many who were in debt, and of those who 
desired to depreciate the bonds of the nation. 
This was a ratio without precedent in recent his- 
tory, and its adoption would have placed the 
business of the country on a basis of value differing 
from the great commercial nations of the world. 
On this basis the free and unlimited coinage of 
silver was advocated. Its advocates predicted 
from this course a period of prosperity to the na- 
tion, relief to every debtor, and an immense saving 
to the nation in the redemption of its bonds. The 
advocates of a gold standard of valuation predicted 
from such a course the disadvantage in business of 
a standard differing from all commercial nations, 



64 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the immense loss to the nation in a standard which 
lowered by about one half all obligations, and the 
dishonor to the country in redeeming its bonds 
at a lower valuation than that at which they had 
been accepted. 

Under the influence of those interested in the 
production of silver, and from the necessity of its 
use as a circulating medium, Congress had re- 
cognized its commercial value, and had required 
the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase monthly 
certain amounts of silver on Government account. 
These purchases had come to exceed $500,000,000 
and the Treasury vaults were filled to overflow- 
ing with the metal. The price of silver natu- 
rally fell until the depreciation on these holdings 
reached the enormous amount of $150,000,000. 
Still, under the law, these purchases were required 
to be made. It became necessary to adopt some 
course which should relieve a situation which was 
constantly growing worse. On what action should 
be taken the Republican and Democratic parties 
were divided. Many even in the Republican 
party came slowly to the view ultimately ex- 
pressed in the platform of its convention. The 
question to-day is settled, but during the cam- 
paign it was debated most seriously. 

On this question Mr. Hobart at once and un- 
equivocally expressed his views in favor of a 
single gold standard. He said : " When a premium 
of forty-seven cents is offered on every fifty-three 
cents of silver held by the mine owners, it can 



Convention at St. Louis 65 

only be done at the expense of every man who has 
part or lot or share in the country's industry and 
wealth. ' ' On this basis there would be practically 
a scaling of fifty per cent of the national and state 
debts, individual indebtedness, banks' and savings 
banks' deposits, life and fire insurance contracts 
and fiduciary trusts, except where the gold 
standard was part of pre-existing contracts. 

The Democratic party, under the leadership 
of William J. Bryan, who by a single adroit and 
eloquent speech in its National Convention made 
himself its nominee for President, advocated a 
bi-metal standard of gold and silver; the Republi- 
can party stood for the single standard, gold. 
It required conviction and courage to take this 
stand, for in a test vote on a silver bond bill in the 
House, a majority of the members from ten of the 
Western and Pacific States had voted in its favor. 
These States were California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, 
Wyoming, and Washington. Any action which 
opposed the expressed views of the representatives 
of so many States endangered the success of the 
party. In the interest of party success many 
hesitated about committing the party to any 
definite statement on this question. A consider- 
able number of Republicans were undecided in 
their own minds, and were at least half willing to 
make the experiment of a dual standard. No 
one was left in doubt for a moment as to Mr. 
Hobart's position on this question. No one even 



66 Garret Augustus Hobart 

heard him compromise his views. Unquestion- 
ably, as it proved, his uncompromising declara- 
tions became an important factor in causing his 
nomination, but every one did not think so at 
first. It was largely due to his firm utterances 
and influence in the National Committee that the 
party took a stand so decided and uncompromising. 
The people of the West especially, but also many 
all over the country, seemed bewitched with these 
financial vagaries. So greatly was public opinion 
affected, that Major McKinley questioned the ad- 
visability of a decided expression by the party 
in favor of the gold standard. Thus the matter 
stood before the convention met. 

The National Committee, after a long hearing 
of the various claims of a number of cities, finally 
selected St. Louis as the place where the National 
Convention should be held. The Republicans of 
that city had obtained from its authorities the 
temporary cession of a part of Washington Park, 
on which they engaged to erect a building for the 
use of the convention at a cost of $60,000, which 
would seat fourteen thousand persons. Great 
preparations were made to welcome large dele- 
gations. In these expectations they were disap- 
pointed, for so general was the conviction that 
Major McKinley would be nominated for President, 
that clubs which had expected to attend the con- 
vention and influence its action gave up the idea. 
An accident, which occurred during the erection of 
the building, threatened for a time to make neces- 



Convention at St. Louis 67 

sary a postponement of the day selected for the 
meeting. Happily, this was not necessary. The 
convention assembled on the 16th day of June, 
1896, and was organized by the election of Charles 
W. Fairbanks as temporary chairman. There were 
present nine hundred and twenty-four delegates, 
and an equal number of alternates. For seven 
days preceding the meeting the National Com- 
mittee had been occupied night and day in the 
attempt to settle the claims of rival delegations. 
After all their efforts appeals were taken to the 
convention, and the settlement of these various 
claims took up much time. The permanent 
organization was completed by the election of 
John M. Thurston, of Nebraska, as permanent 
chairman. The first, second, and a portion of the 
third day were occupied in settling the claims of 
delegates and determining the roll, the adoption 
of rules, and the formation of a platform. The 
anticipated trouble came upon the adoption of the 
financial plank presented by the committee, which 
was as follows: 

The Republican party is unreservedly for sound money. 
It caused the enactment of a law providing for the redemp- 
tion of specie payments in 1879. Since then every dollar 
has been as good as gold. We are unalterably opposed to 
every measure calculated to debase our currency, or impair 
the credit of our country. We are therefore opposed to the 
free coinage of silver, except by international agreement 
with the leading commercial nations of the earth, which 
agreement we pledge ourselves to promote, and until such 



68 Garret Augustus Hobart 

agreement can be obtained, the existing gold standard must 
be maintained. All of our silver and paper currency must 
be maintained at parity with gold ; and we favor all meas- 
ures designed to maintain inviolable the obligations of 
the United States of all our money, whether coin or paper, 
at the present standard, the standard of most of the en- 
lightened nations of the earth. 

This cautious utterance, with its impossible 
reservation, exhibits the convictions of the party, 
its endeavors to prevent a division, and at the 
same time its fears. 

The leader of the silver advocates was the well 
known and respected Senator, Henry M. Teller, 
of Colorado. In an able and earnest speech he 
presented the views of the opposition, and offered a 
substitute favoring "the free and unlimited coin- 
age of gold and silver at our mints at the ratio of 
sixteen parts of silver to one of gold. ' ' A motion to 
lay the gold plank on the table was defeated by a 
large majority, 8i8£ votes being cast in opposition 
and 105-^ in its favor. The gold plank was thus 
overwhelmingly sustained. Senator Teller then 
asked that a paper expressing the views of the 
opposition be heard. It was read by Senator 
Cannon, of Utah, and was signed by delegates from 
the silver States, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Dakota, 
and Nevada. The reading was followed by the 
withdrawal from the convention of about one 
hundred delegates. Their places were taken to 
some degree by alternates present. 

After quiet had been restored, the regular order 



Convention at St. Louis 69 

of procedure was resumed, and the platform 
proposed by the committee was adopted. The 
roll of the States was then called for nominations 
of persons for President. With glowing eulogies 
the following persons were nominated: William B. 
Allison, of Iowa; Thomas B. Reed, of Maine; Levi 
P. Morton, of New York; William McKinley, of 
Ohio; and Matthew Stanley Quay, of Pennsylvania. 
The official ballot which followed showed 66 1 £ 
votes for Major McKinley, and 239^ for all the 
other candidates, the next highest receiving 84 
votes. At once the motion was made that the 
nomination of William McKinley be declared to be 
the unanimous action of the convention. The 
motion was adopted with great enthusiasm, and 
the chairman declared : "Gentlemen of the Con- 
vention, by authority of your unanimous vote I 
declare that William McKinley is the nominee of 
the Republican party for President of the United 
States." 

The convention was thoroughly wearied with the 
great strain of these proceedings. But, worn out 
as the delegates were, it was felt better to proceed 
to the nomination of a Vice-President than to 
postpone the completion of their work to another 
day. In order to facilitate action, the nominating 
speeches were limited to fifteen minutes. At 
this point Mr. Hobart left his seat as delegate at 
large from New Jersey and retired from the 
convention, his substitute taking his place. The 
roll was then called for nominations for Vice- 



70 Garret Augustus Hobart 

President, and these persons were put in nomina- 
tion: Governor Morgan B. Bulkley, of Connecticut; 
Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey; Governor Charles 
Warren Lippett, of Rhode Island; H. Clay Evans, 
of Tennessee; and General James A. Walker, of 
Virginia. On the roll-call of the States, Garret 
A. Hobart received 533-^ votes; and all the others 
359i> °f which number H. Clay Evans received 
28o|. As before, the nomination was made 
unanimous. The chair then made the announce- 
ment: "By virtue of the unanimous vote of this 
convention, and the authority vested in the chair, 
Garret A. Hobart is declared to be the nominee 
of the Republican party for Vice-President." 

After a few necessary formal acts the convention 
adjourned sine die, leaving to the judgment of 
the nation the political declarations of the plat- 
form and the nominations of its candidates. 
Of both candidates the same expression was fre- 
quently used during the campaign: " Each one was 
most respected and admired where he was best 
known — in his own State." 

Few men in the country were better fitted at 
this time to fill an influential place in public affairs 
than was Mr. Hobart. He had been trained in the 
school of necessity to labor; he had risen from 
simple conditions to affluence; he had experience 
as a presiding officer in the Legislature of his 
State; he had become accustomed to act in large 
affairs in business and politics; and he had pre- 
served unaffected manners and kindly feelings. 



Convention at St. Louis 7 1 

He was ready to take a national view of affairs, and 
to fill a national place. The nation quickly 
recognized and approved his appreciation of the 
office of Vice-President and the fidelity with which 
he performed the duties of the office to which he 
was elected. 

For the third time New Jersey was honored 
by a great party in the nomination of one of its 
distinguished citizens for Vice-President. Theodore 
Frelinghuysen on the ticket with Henry Clay in 
1844 was defeated. William L. Dayton on the 
ticket with John Charles Fremont in 1856 was 
defeated. Garret A. Hobart on the ticket with 
William McKinley in 1896 was elected. No 
one can challenge the statement that Mr. Hobart 
was an important factor in the successful campaign 
of the Republican party. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Personal Views and Expressions in Refer- 
ence to the Nomination 

THE background of biography must be history, 
but the interest and value of history must 
largely be found in biography. In the 
exciting events, which occurred in the convention 
at St. Louis, the personality of Mr. Hobart is not 
lost. His good sense and self-control appear in 
every word and act. It is true that the political 
conditions in his State and his financial views 
had much to do with his nomination, but so also 
had his character and his popularity. The man 
here, as always, appears more important than the 
circumstances in which he is placed. It is in his 
own words we can learn best the workings of his 
mind, and fortunately some of the words uttered 
at this time have been preserved. 

From the kindly hopes of his friends, the action 
of the State Convention, and the expressions of 
his fellow members of the National Committee, 
it became evident to Mr. Hobart that his nomina- 
tion for Vice-President was a possibility, if not a 
probability. It was, however, by no means set- 
tled in his own mind that he desired the office, 
72 



Personal Views on Nomination 73 

and that he would give his consent to have his 
name presented as a candidate. It was entirely 
in character for him therefore at this point to 
satisfy his mind as to the reasonable prospect of 
success if he consented to allow his name to be 
presented as a candidate to the convention in St. 
Louis. Of the support of his own State, he had 
no doubt. With regard to the action of his party 
in the State convention, he said to a reporter: 
" I am aware the party is loyal to me. I want to 
say right here that no one could appreciate the 
action of the convention more than I do. It 
was a great honor that was conferred upon me, 
and while I never sought it, it is an honor no one 
has a right to refuse. Frankly let me state that 
the movement in my behalf was spontaneous. I 
never encouraged it. If the nomination for 
Vice-President were handed me now as the unani- 
mous action of the National Convention, my inclin- 
ation would be to decline it. But the sentiment 
of the State in my favor is so strong, and so kind 
in its expression, that I naturally am grateful, 
and shall place myself at the disposal of the host 
of friends who are working for my elevation to 
the Vice- Presidency. " 

To discover what were the feelings of the host 
of friends outside of New Jersey, he went to 
Washington to confer with leaders from other 
States. From Congressmen and members of the 
National Committee there present, he received 
an ovation and assurance that his nomination 



74 Garret Augustus Hobart 



& 



would be gladly received in Alabama, Kansas, 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. When a friend, 
seeing how things seemed turning, said, "So you 
are going to be McKinley's running mate," he 
replied in his characteristic way, as he had done 
before, "Not a doubt about it whatever." It 
was observed, however, that Mr. Hobart said 
little in this investigation of political conditions. 
He came to see, and not to seek pledges, or urge 
his claims. When asked about his candidacy he 
said: "I have not raised my finger for it, nor 
have I suggested it to any man." And when 
asked regarding the connection of his name with 
Major McKinley's, he replied: "My nomination 
is a personal matter — a tribute from my friends. 
It is entirely separate and distinct from Mr. 
McKinley's canvass." 

Though his actions may seem in a way to con- 
tradict his words, it is true, nevertheless, that 
there was grave doubt in his own mind as to 
the course he should take. The shadow of a 
great sorrow rested upon the family from the 
recent death of an only daughter. To break up 
his home life and the habits of years, to lay aside 
his important business affairs, to undertake severe 
and anxious labors, to accept a position of little 
significance in the public mind, to enter on duties 
which were largely formal, might well cause him 
to pause. The matter was debated long and 
seriously in his own mind and in the family. 
The question concerned not only his feelings, but 



Personal Views on Nomination 75 

the feelings of his wife as well. In case of his 
nomination, the privacy of grief must give way 
to the publicity of a contested campaign and, in 
case of success, of official life. With true devotion 
to her husband's duty and interests, the decision 
finally was left to Mr. Hobart. He hesitated and 
shrank more and more from the step as the nomi- 
nation seemed more probable. The decision was 
finally reached that he would neither seek nor 
avoid the nomination. If it should come to him 
honorably, as the expressed wish of his party and 
friends, he would accept it and do his best to aid 
the ticket. If, on the other hand, he would be 
required to go into the arena and make a personal 
canvass for the nomination, he would withdraw 
his name. 

From his own words his position can be best 
understood. As he said good-by to his wife at 
the station when he started for St. Louis, he gave 
expression to his real feelings: " It is a nice thing 
that my friends want my nomination, but really 
I do not want it, and do not know what to do 
about it." Coming back to the carriage, he 
added: " If I have enough votes to make my can- 
didacy respectable, it will be all I want." He 
replied to a letter from the editor of The Syra- 
cuse Post, which said that it was the first paper in 
New York to advocate his nomination: "I wish 
I deserved all the good things that are said about 
me. But I do find with much satisfaction that 
the hard work done for the party is recognized by 



76 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the best men in the party. I am not an office- 
seeker, for I happen to have more of a retiring 
disposition than many would care to possess. 
Yet it is not unpleasant to be considered as eligible 
to high office." Immediately preceding the gath- 
ering of the Convention, he said in St. Louis in 
answer to inquiries as to his candidacy : " My dele- 
gation has not yet arrived, and it will not until 
to-morrow. Until I consult with my friends from 
New Jersey, I cannot say whether my name will 
be presented. Yes, it is true that the New Jersey 
Convention endorsed me as a candidate for Vice- 
President, but it will not be determined what will 
be done until the New Jersey delegates have had 
time to canvass the situation here on the ground. 
When the idea was first suggested, I allowed my 
friends to talk about it, and gave it a sort of ap- 
proval, but now that I am here, and there may 
be a possibility of my nomination, I really am 
not sure I want to be a candidate." 

After the nomination had taken place, and a 
great multitude thronged about the hotel where 
the nominee was staying, he appeared unperturbed 
by all the excitement. He said to those about 
him : " It is just a little too much for me to attempt 
to express myself just now, but I must say that 
my friends from New Jersey deserve a vast 
amount of credit for the manner in which they 
have fought this battle. I owe my success to 
them, and I shall certainly remember them and 
appreciate their noble efforts. I am proud of 



Personal Views on Nomination 77 

the honor conferred upon my beloved State, and 
proud of the splendid work of the delegates who 
came here to represent it, and who have achieved 
so much. New Jersey, I firmly believe, is in the 
Republican column to stay, and the National 
Convention has clinched the matter. I shall at 
once get into the harness of the campaign, and 
use my best endeavors to further the election of 
Mr. McKinley." 

Before leaving home for St. Louis Mr. Hobart 
entertained the New Jersey delegation at the 
Lawyers' Club in New York in order that they 
might confer together and make arrangements 
for the trip to that city and their stay there 
during the Convention. A committee was ap- 
pointed at that time to make all the arrangements 
necessary. There was no political significance in 
the gathering. The delegates and their alternates 
stayed at the Planters' Hotel where they found 
Mr. Hobart, who had preceded them in order to 
serve in his place on the National Committee. 
The headquarters of the New Jersey delegation 
were in a building owned by ex-Governor Murphy, 
only four blocks from the hotel. In that building 
two floors were fitted up for the use of the delega- 
tion. Mr. Hobart's duties as a member of the 
National Committee, as well as a delegate to 
the Convention, required him to leave home on 
the 8th of June. These duties occupied his time so 
fully that he was seldom at the headquarters of 
the State delegation or in the Convention, though 



78 Garret Augustus Hobart 

he kept track of all that was going on. Robert 
P. Porter, who prepared the sketch of Mr. Hobart's 
life for the campaign book, and was in confidential 
communication with Mr. Hobart at St. Louis, said 
his repeated utterance was: "Select the strongest 
available man for the ticket, utterly regardless of 
my interests." 

On his way to St. Louis Mr. Hobart met Mr. 
Quay, who was nominated for President, and who 
voluntarily pledged the votes of the Pennsylvania 
delegation to him for the Vice- Presidency. During 
the sessions of the Convention, Mr. Quay came to 
him and asked to be released from his pledge. 
With characteristic frankness and good nature, 
Mr. Hobart replied: "Certainly. But I tell you, 
Quay, I shall be nominated without the aid of 
your delegation." The delegation from Pennsyl- 
vania voted as a unit for him. His statement 
shows that he thoroughly understood the situation. 
He said to a friend after his return: "I was as 
certain of my nomination before the Convention 7 
was organized as I was after the nomination was 
made." This conviction had a substantial basis, 
for several States had expressed themselves in 
favor of his nomination, and assurances of support 
had been given by members of the National 
Committee and prominent political leaders. 

His inmost feelings appear in the letters and 
telegrams sent to his wife from St. Louis. They 
show fatigue and haste, but all the more express 
his personal views and are therefore placed here 



Personal Views on Nomination 79 

as they were written. He writes on June nth: 
"Yesterday was a hard day. Every hour oc- 
cupied with contests until midnight, and with 
the two previous nights in the cars when I had 
little sleep, I laid me down quite tuckered. You 
will know more by the New York papers, or as 
much as I can tell you. It is evident the com- 
bine is broken, and McKinley will be nominated 
early. Every hour we spend over contests makes 
the work of the Convention shorter and easier. 
I have been too busy to be homesick, but, to tell 
the honest truth, I am heart-sick over my own 
prospects. It looks to me I will be nominated 
for Vice-President whether I want it or not, and 
as I get nearer to the point where I may, I am 
dismayed at the thought. All the committee, 
judging from what they say, are very kind 
and good to me. I shall be overwhelmed if it 
does happen, and I am praying that Reed will 
say he will consent. If he does not, I fear I 
will not only get a respectable vote, but too 
many." 

Again he writes on June 12 th, at 7 a.m. : "Just 
a line to say I am still in the same condition of 
uncertainty and unrest. If I want a nomination/ 
everything is going my way. But when I realize 
all that it means in work, worry, and loss of home 
and bliss, I am overcome, so overcome I am 
simply miserable. Perhaps it may come out for 
the best, and whichever way it comes without 
seeking I must bear. The excitement here over 



So Garret Augustus Hobart 

these contests from all parts of the country is 
terrible. The papers, I assume, give you all the 
news; here, they give too much to suit me." An 
hour later on the same day he wrote: " I am about 
as miserable as I can be over this Vice- Presidency. 
I can make it easily, and for peace of mind and for 
quiet I think I ought not to press it. It may get 
beyond me before I know it, for it is growing here 
among delegates, many of whom take it for 
granted. It is getting so positive in many men's 
minds, that if it goes with a swing I will be in it 
for fair, and then I am miserable and our life for 
four months will not be worth living. I have 
made up my mind not to press, not to ask help 
from any friend, and discourage it utterly unless 
you want me to have it. Your instincts as to 
what it will mean to us will be correct. I have 
hardly slept in all the excitement here, and we do 
not get through with our work before twelve to 
one each morning. This must go on until Tues- 
day morning and then the Convention meets, 
which is also hard." 

From the wife there came to him in reply to 
these letters cheering and helpful messages. When 
the news of his nomination was received, she 
expressed her devotion to his interests in the 
beautiful words of Ruth to Naomi: "Entreat me 
not to leave thee, or to return from following 
after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and 
where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall 
be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou 



Personal Views on Nomination 81 

diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The 
Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but 
death part thee and me." 

When the nomination was made, The Chicago 
News says, Mr. Hobart was eating his dinner 
at the Planters' Hotel. He quietly finished his 
meal, and departed as quietly as if nothing 
extraordinary had occurred. 

Soon after the nomination hundreds of begging 
letters, so disgraceful to American self-respect, 
began to flow in upon him and Mrs. Hobart. 
Children and towns were named for him, and he 
was duly informed of the fact by admiring Re- 
publican parents and hopeful settlements. All 
must join in the hope that only in one family have 
twin girls been called by the names of Hoberta 
and Garrett a. 

The speeches made in the Convention putting 
Mr. Hobart 's name in nomination will be found 
in Appendix I in this volume. The speech nomi- 
nating him was made by Judge, now Governor, J. 
Franklin Fort, of New Jersey. J. Otis Humphrey, 
of Illinois, seconded the nomination. When the 
State of West Virginia was reached on the call of 
the roll, A. B. White also spoke in favor of the 
nomination. 

After the campaign was over, and the Re- 
publican ticket had been elected, Mr. Hobart 
went to East Orange, where Governor Fort 
lived, to attend a public meeting. In a brief 
address he said: 



82 Garret Augustus Hobart 

• The citizens of East Orange, among all their virtues, have 
at least one peculiar distinction. They have a gentleman, 
who is president of their club, who had the political effront- 
ery and the nerve to nominate a man for the office of the 
Vice- Presidency of the United States, and whose arguments 
were so convincing and whose eloquence was so great that 
his friend, without merit, was nominated, elected, and lives 
to tell the tale in East Orange, and now he presents me in 
person to his friends and neighbors, evidently to prove all 
that he has said and continues to say was not true. 

In the minutes of a speech prepared for a 
meeting of the students of Rutgers College (after 
the election) these words are found: 

The victory won has been a victory of no party, nor of 
persons, but of principles. No man who believes in right 
principles, who believes in his country and in his country's 
honor, whether president, faculty, or students, can wonder 
at the excitement attending the late election. We may 
all congratulate ourselves upon the result of the election; 
particularly such men as I see before me, to whom the 
world looks for the best grade of intelligence, for the most 
exalted public opinion in questions of political economy, 
and to whom they look likewise for the settlement of any 
grave subject which affects the public welfare. It is right 
for you to rejoice, then, gentlemen, in the interest of the 
right settlement of the questions at issue, and, so far as it 
is proper, I beg to thank you sincerely for all that you have 
done, for all the colleges and men of learning have been to 
this great cause that has disturbed the country to its very 
foundations. Our best campaign help has come from you, 
who are the cultured, the educated, the sincerely honest and 
independent thinkers of the Republic, as well as the in- 
dependent voters of the land. You were patriots before 
you were Republicans, before you were Democrats, before 



Personal Views on Nomination 83 

you were adherents of any political party. I venture to 
think this college almost solidly, in common with the 
officers and students of all the colleges of the land, stood for 
the platform and principles adopted at St. Louis. 

The vote in New Jersey shows what the intelli- 
gent, right-thinking, conservative citizens can do 
when aroused. The most hopeful Republican es- 
timates had predicted a majority of 30,000. The 
plurality of nearly 90,000 votes in New Jersey 
given for the Republican ticket was something 
unheard of, something undreamed of; and it was 
not a triumph of men or of party merely, but of 
principles upheld by sincere men. 



CHAPTER IX 
Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 

ALTHOUGH the Republican State Convention 
had instructed its delegates to do all in 
their power to secure the nomination of 
Mr. Hobart for Vice-President, and the signs of 
the times seemed favorable, so many were the 
possible changes from uncertain political condi- 
tions, it was, after all, with a start of surprise in 
his own city and in the State that the news was 
received that he had been chosen. Neither the 
State in which he was born, nor the city in which 
he had lived more than thirty years, had realized 
how widely he had become known, and how highly 
he was esteemed by leading men in financial and 
political circles. The unostentatious life he led 
and the simplicity of his manner made his fellow 
citizens regard him as a good friend and pleasant 
neighbor rather than a man of large affairs and 
national reputation. The ease with which his 
nomination was secured and the expressions of 
approval from prominent men and newspapers 
throughout the country awakened them to a 
recognition of the commanding position which he 
occupied. Here and there a newspaper flippantly 
8 4 



Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 85 

asked, "Who is Hobart?" The answer was 
quickly given in his honorable record, the large 
vote given to him in his native State, his manage- 
ment of the campaign, and the strength and 
wisdom which he exhibited in the duties of the 
office which he filled. The whole nation came to 
know who he was, and gave to him respect and 
confidence, and in addition, what he always won, 
affection. He proved the sentiment enunciated 
at the time, that "there is no man big enough to 
be Vice-President who is not big enough to be 
President." A man who could obtain a plurality 
of nearly 90,000 votes in a State a few years 
before counted with certainty in the Democratic 
column, was no ordinary man. In some places 
in the State the vote for him was almost unani- 
mous. In the town of East Orange, for example, 
eighty per cent of the votes were cast for Mc- 
Kinley and Hobart. 

At St. Louis, after the nomination, he received 
many congratulations and promises from the New 
Jersey delegates of what would be done for him 
at the polls. His journey homeward showed the 
interest which his nomination had already excited. 
He returned to Paterson with the New Jersey 
delegation on a special train, sharing the private 
car of General Sewell. The train attracted much 
attention, and he was cheered along the whole 
route. He found on his return letters, telegrams, 
and telephone messages of congratulation by 
hundreds and thousands. Weary and exhausted 



86 Garret Augustus Hobart 

as he was, he was not allowed to rest. His friends, 
Democrats as well as Republicans, came in crowds 
to wish him success. The ubiquitous reporter 
could not be shut out. To one of them he said 
on the morning after his return: "I felt just as 
tired last night as I could feel. There was excite- 
ment in St. Louis all the time I was there. It 
seems as though I never spent a week in my life 
in which I got less sleep. The meetings of the 
National Committee were long and exciting. 
Some of them lasted far into the morning. Then 
there was the excitement incident to my nomina- 
tion, and finally came the demonstrations in my 
honor at St. Louis and all the way home. All 
along the route there were cheering, hand-shaking,- 
and jubilation. It would be impossible for any 
man to receive such treatment and not be affected 
by it. I cannot help feeling pleased at the regard 
which the people of my city are showing for me. 
To be thought well of by the people with whom I 
associate is dearer to me than the plaudits I re- 
ceived at St. Louis and along the route to Paterson. 
The former are based on what is known about me ; 
the latter were based on what had been heard and 
said about me." Certain it is that no nomination 
could have been more acceptable to the voters in 
the State of New Jersey. 

When the news was received at Paterson at 
7:41 in the evening of June 18th, "Hobart's 
nomination unanimous," the city became delirious 
with joy. The streets on which the newspaper 



Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 87 

offices were located were impassable from the 
crowds awaiting tidings from the Convention. In 
ten minutes after the news was received an extra 
edition of The Press was issued. One of the 
daily papers on the following morning described 
the scenes of the previous evening in these words : 
"Nothing that could be done to show the grati- 
tude of the people of Paterson was left undone, 
and all that was done was done noisily. Cheers, 
fire-crackers, sky-rockets, Roman candles, guns, 
church bells, factory whistles, drums, and brass 
bands were brought into play. The supply of 
fireworks in the city was soon exhausted and 
messengers were hurried to Passaic for more." 
Trains of illuminated trolley cars with bands and 
shouting citizens swept over the city lines. The 
whole population of the city poured into the 
streets. About his residence the streets were 
thronged. In the home Mrs. Hobart welcomed 
her many friends who, irrespective of party lines, 
came to congratulate her on the honor received 
by her husband. In almost his very words she 
expressed her own feelings, showing the complete 
identity of thought between them, when she 
replied to their kind words: "I am more pleased 
to find such a feeling among his friends and neigh- 
bors than to receive the news of his nomination." 
These spontaneous expressions of regard for Mr. 
Hobart and for the honor to the city through him 
were felt to be inadequate. There was a demand 
on all sides for some formal and dignified demons- 



88 Garret Augustus Hobart 

stration of the respect and regard felt for him by 
his fellow citizens. A public reception was there- 
fore planned in which, without regard to party 
affiliations, all might unite. The great armory, 
belonging to the State, in which 15,000 persons 
could find place, was obtained for this purpose. 
Large as was the building, it could not contain 
half of those who desired to be present. When 
it was filled to its utmost capacity the adjacent 
streets were still crowded. Large numbers of 
people came from the neighboring towns of 
Hackensack and Passaic, of Jersey City, Newark, 
and Elizabeth. Associations with bands and 
banners paraded the streets while the exercises 
in the armory were going on. Robert P. Porter, 
who was present, wrote to The Cleveland World: 
" I have never seen such a throng and such 
enthusiasm as that exhibited last night for Garret 
A. Hobart by his fellow townsmen. Over 15,000 
people assembled under one roof to do him homage. 
The enormous armory was packed with a mighty 
throng, which stood throughout the proceedings. 
It was a scene never to be forgotten. Lifelong 
Democrats vied with lifelong Republicans to do 
this plain, simple, modest man honor. He made 
one of the most appropriate speeches ever heard 
for such an occasion." 

The reception was held on the evening of June 
22, 1896. Ex- Judge John Hopper, an old and 
highly respected citizen and a lifelong Democrat, 
called the meeting to order and proposed the 



Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 89 

Mayor, Christian Braun, also a Democrat, as the 
presiding officer. John W. Griggs, Governor of 
the State and the warm personal friend and po- 
litical associate of Mr. Hobart, made the address 
of welcome and congratulation. Judge Hopper 
said: 

It falls upon me to say that during all these years I have 
lived in Paterson I have never seen an occasion such as 
this. The people of Paterson, without distinction of party, 
sex, age, race, color, or creed, have assembled here to-night 
to honor our esteemed fellow citizen, Garret A. Hobart. 
My duty here is very simple and plain, but before doing it 
I cannot help express my personal appreciation of the honor 
that has occasioned this demonstration to-night. It is a 
great pleasure, indeed, to know that one of our fellow citi- 
zens has received this distinguished honor of being nomi- 
nated for the second highest office in the United States. 
And we are here to-night for the purpose of showing our 
appreciation of that honor. 

Mayor Braun was then introduced, and said : 

It gives me great pleasure in responding to your invitation 
to preside at this meeting, and I thank you for this great 
honor. As I understand it, this is not a political gathering; 
it is a meeting that has no political significance. Without 
regard to party we meet here to-night to show our esteem, 
and to congratulate our old friend and neighbor, Garret A. 
Hobart, on his nomination for the high office of Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. We are all glad that such an 
honor has fallen on one of our fellow citizens, and we all 
look upon it as an honor to our community. 

The Mayor then introduced Governor Griggs, 
who spoke as follows: 



9© Garret Augustus Hobart 

If you ever visit Westminster Abbey, and ask for the 
monument of Sir Christopher Wren, you will be told to look 
around you; and if any one wants to know the esteem 
the regard, the affection, the love of the city of Paterson 
for Garret A. Hobart, we simply say to him, " Look around 
you." This unprecedented gathering of people of all 
political parties is a testimonial of honest character, and of 
the honor and affection that the people of this city have 
for our distinguished townsman. 

Such demonstrations, so universal, so profound, are 
usually reserved to be bestowed only upon the honored 
dead. Happy fortune for our friend, that now, in the 
meridian of his life, he can see this testimony of your 
universal esteem. 

For thirty years and more he has lived and wrought 
among us, working out his destiny. During that time, 
the people of this county have four times chosen him to 
represent them in official stations; and each time, with 
more than ordinary ability, he has reflected honor and 
credit upon those that sent him to the halls of legislation. 
Now, out of sixty millions of people, out of forty-five great 
States of the Union, a great political party has selected 
him as worthy to be linked with those other great Jersey- 
men — Theodore Frelinghuysen and William L. Dayton — 
as fit to be the heir-apparent of the Presidency of the 
United States. 

In this honor, so deserved and so received by him, we all 
rejoice. Though we differ in political faith, though our 
political hopes are not the same, yet those of us that agree 
politically with him, if his election shall follow his nomina- 
tion, shall glory in his deserved elevation; and those that 
disagree with him will know that if he succeeds, the nation 
will have a capable, a worthy, and an efficient servant. 

But, as I have said, this is not a partisan demonstration. 
It is, Mr. Hobart, the welcome of a city whose people are 
all your friends. It is the voices of your neighbors up- 



Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 91 

lifted in harmony to testify the pride, the glory, the affec- 
tion that they have for you and in you. The sounds that 
have enlivened our streets since last Thursday night are 

"Sounds as though some fair city with one voice 
Around a King returning from his wars." 

I am glad to give you the heartfelt greeting of your 
fellow citizens, to assure you of their confidence and 
esteem, to tell you that they know your worth, and that 
they know that to you there is more dread in praise than 
in criticism. 

God bless you and keep you! And whatever honors 
more the future may bring to you, we, your fellow towns- 
men, the people of Paterson, hope to share by reflected 
light, as we know you will deserve them all, and wear 
them well. 

Mr. Hobart, replying to these speeches, said : 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and 
Neighbors of the City of Paterson: 

If there ever was a time in my life when I was em- 
barrassed, this is the exact moment. I have often felt 
and wished that I possessed the gift of oratory and the 
grace of diction which our Governor has to such full extent, 
but I have it not; and in the plainest words possible, my 
friends, only can I offer for this magnificent testimonial, 
this beautiful tribute to me and to the State of New Jersey, 
which in some degree I represent, my profound, my deepest 
thanks for all the goodness, for all the esteem, and for all 
the confidence which you seem to have in me. I would 
rather to-night, my friends, have the confidence and es- 
teem of my fellow citizens of this city, including the men 
of both political parties, than to have any office in the 
gift of the people. It is only the non-partisan aspect of 
this demonstration that makes it possible for me to be here 



92 Garret Augustus Hobart 

at all to-night. Under other circumstances it would 
neither be proper nor opportune for me to address 
you. 

I have lived in the city of Paterson for thirty years and 
more, and during all that time I have enjoyed the con- 
fidence and esteem of Democrats about me — like my 
venerable friend, Judge John Hopper (turning to Judge 
Hopper and shaking his hand amid great applause), the 
first friend that I had when I came to the city of Paterson. 
I have enjoyed the confidence and esteem of men like 
Mayor Braun and Ex-Mayor Barnet, of Bernard Katz 
and Philip Katz, of William B. Gourley, Cornelius Cadmus, 
James Inglis, jr., of Michael Dunn, of Hugh Kerr, and hosts 
of other leading Democrats from the moment that I came 
to the city of Paterson, and I have never lost the friendship 
of a single one up to this time. I would rather have the 
confidence and esteem and friendship of such men than 
to occupy any office in the gift of the people of this 
nation. 

As this is not a political demonstration, permit me a 
single moment of reminiscence. When I came to the city 
of Paterson, a boy twenty years old, there were but twenty- 
five thousand people in this city; there were no hospitals; 
there were hardly any streets; there were no surrounding 
macadamized roads; there were no railroads; and there 
were but few churches. What a marvellous change has 
come over us since! In thirty years the population has 
grown to one hundred thousand people ; we have four daily 
papers; one hundred miles of macadamized roads, and 
fifty miles of paved streets; churches without number; 
children's day nurseries and hospitals; all the conveniences 
of city life; fifty miles of trolley roads taking the people 
quickly and quietly to their homes. 

Now the point I desire to make, my friends, and the 
one point, — is the importance of civic pride and public 
spirit, which has produced these marvellous changes in 



Reception of the Nomination in Paterson 93 

our city in that time. I have been guilty myself of some 
of that civic pride in the city of my adoption, and the city 
of my choice, and I rejoice in it. I invoke you, Demo- 
crats and Republicans alike, to do even more than you 
have done, to manifest more civic pride and more public 
spirit to make the city of Paterson, what it ought to be — 
the city of the future; to make it possible to have larger 
factories and more of them, to bring more people here, 
to make hundreds of thousands of homes more than there 
are now; and make it what it is destined to be — the first 
city in the State of New Jersey. Fellow citizens, whatever 
I am, whatever I am to be, whatever position in life may 
come to me, to this, with you, I am glad to dedicate 
myself. 

Mr. Chairman, it has been made known to you that I 
have been nominated for a great office. I do not say that 
it is immaterial what becomes of the election, but I do 
say this: if I shall be called upon to exercise the functions 
of this office, I shall not need to tell the citizens of Pater- 
son that I will do it with all the energy, with all the vigor, 
with all the fidelity, with all the power with which God 
has blessed me. And if, in the changes of politics that 
take place, other names than those selected at St. Louis 
shall be chosen to preside for four years over the destinies 
of this nation, I shall bow to the will of the nation, and 
shall still hope to live in Paterson, to be your good friend, 
and kind neighbor, and your esteemed fellow citizen. 
Whatever character I have has been made in the city of 
Paterson, and belongs here. Whatever of repute I have, 
or whatever I shall have conferred upon me, is due to my 
associations with the people of the city of Paterson, and 
to their confidence and esteem. 

In speaking of Paterson, I feel as Robert Burns felt 
when he spoke of Glencairn, and, perhaps, I cannot 
better express my idea than by concluding with his 
lines: 



94 Garret Augustus Hobart 

" The bridegroom may forget the bride 
Was made his wedded wife yestreen ; 
The monarch may forget the crown 
That on his head an hour has been ; 
The mother may forget the child 
That smiles sae sweetly on her knee ; 
But I '11 remember thee, Glencairn, 
And a' that thou hast done for me." 



CHAPTER X 
The Campaign 

THE Presidential campaign of 1896 was pro- 
secuted with vigor by both the Republican 
and Democratic parties. Five other par- 
ties placed candidates in the field, but as their 
total votes were less than half a million they 
were negligible quantities. The grave importance 
of the questions at issue, and the honorable 
character of the candidates presented by the two 
great parties, made the campaign singularly free 
from personalities and mean vituperation. The 
conflict was fought out fairly and squarely on the 
principles for which these two great parties stood. 
The two main issues of the tariff and the currency 
were plain questions and easily stated. The tariff, 
always of importance in a manufacturing State 
like New Jersey, was overshadowed at this time 
by the currency question. This was a moral, 
as well as an economic question. It deserves to 
be restated, both because it was the vital issue of 
the campaign, and because so many even of the 
Republican party were deluded by their supposed 
interests and by specious arguments to favor the 
adoption of a dual standard. Stripped of all 
95 



96 Garret Augustus Hobart 

that might confuse the judgment, it contained 
the plain issue whether a debt could be contracted 
on one valuation, and honestly cancelled on a 
lower valuation; contracted on a gold standard, 
cancelled on a debased silver standard. To put the 
question in another form: Should sixteen ounces 
of silver, stamped as a coin by the government, be 
made the equivalent of one ounce of gold, when in 
the open market it would require thirty-two 
ounces? The market value of a silver dollar as 
bullion was at that time about fifty-three cents. 
Under an act of Congress fixing the amount and 
rate of purchase, the Government had bought 
460,000,000 ounces of silver. During this period 
the value of the metal had depreciated from $1.15 
to .68 an ounce. A debtor, if the silver standard 
was established, could compel the creditor to 
receive the silver dollar to pay for the gold dollar. 
Stated in this bald form, it seems impossible that 
it could be made a party issue. The experience of 
the world has proved that no coin can command 
in the market of the world more than the exact 
value of the materials composing it. 

The question is dead to-day, as are many of 
those who contested it, but in that campaign it 
was a live question. The Republican party for 
a time hesitated to make it an issue. The Western 
States were divided on this subject, the Middle- 
Western States uncertain, and only after a time 
did the Eastern States stand openly and firmly 
for true policy and honesty. Ohio, Mr. McKinley's 



The Campaign 97 

own State, in its State Convention, held previous 
to the National Convention, made a compromising 
declaration, in favor of bimetallism in some form ; 
and for a time, as has been said, Major McKinley 
was undecided how far it was wise for the party to 
go in favor of a single gold standard. He ques- 
tioned whether Mr. Hobart's statements in his 
letter of acceptance did not go too far in that 
direction. This view, however, he held only for a 
short time. During the campaign he advocated 
the gold standard, and all his official utterances 
and actions as President were decided on this ques- 
tion. It required at the outset firm conviction and 
true courage to take an uncompromising position. 
This Mr. Hobart did at the risk of success. He 
never showed doubt or hesitancy. His attitude 
and utterances largely determined the policy of 
the Republican party. 

In the conduct of the campaign it was wisely 
arranged that Major McKinley should speak for 
the party, while Mr. Hobart should devote his 
energies and experience to the management of the 
campaign. This was a field which he well knew, 
and which from his experience and success he was 
most competent to occupy. Many political asso- 
ciations and companies of citizens from different 
States went to Canton, where Major McKinley 
resided, and were addressed on the questions at 
issue with wise and stirring words. But while 
Mr. Hobart was busy in the line of work committed 
to him, he too did important work on this line. 



98 Garret Augustus Hobart 

He visited the most important cities of his own 
State, and made several convincing speeches. 
The notes prepared for these speeches still re- 
main. It is not always possible now to be 
certain whether the exact words of these minutes 
were uttered by him, but it is certain they express 
his sentiments. In his formal letter of acceptance 
of his nomination, in which his views are fully 
stated, and which is placed in Appendix III. of 
this book, can be found a full and complete dis- 
cussion of the issues in that campaign. Some 
extracts from speeches made when occasion com- 
pelled, may fitly find a place here. It is also of 
interest to mark that in all he said and did he 
preserved an equable mind. A Democratic paper 
said of him after the campaign was closed: "An- 
other notable thing about the Vice-President is 
the fact that in all his speeches and conversations 
he never speaks insultingly of the opposite party, 
but is the same man to all parties and to all 
creeds. There was never anything unkind or 
abusive about his nature, and therefore all parties 
rejoice in his elevation. We do not believe any man 
ever heard Mr. Hobart speak disparagingly of any 
person. A man who always has a good word for 
everybody, and never expresses ill feeling toward 
a fellow mortal, cannot fail of being popular." 

In a paper marked "Speech at Canton" these 
words are found. They were probably spoken 
when he visited the head of the ticket after the 
nomination. 



The Campaign 99 

"This is not the first time the Republican party 
has led in New Jersey the struggle for sound 
money and for the principles of protection. No 
contest in which you and I have been called to 
participate has equalled in gravity that upon 
which we are entering. The gold standard of 
value must definitely and finally anchor in law 
and in governmental administration. And along 
with this we must restore to our domestic in- 
dustries that measure of protection that free- 
trade theorists have denied them. Whatever 
may be my part in this work, I am willing to 
undertake and carry out to the fullest extent 
possible. And I stand here to say that in other 
respects and in all other matters, which the plat- 
form of our party embodies, I stand upon it, 
and believe these principles are best for the coun- 
try and the nation." He then drew up in parallel 
columns his views of the issues and their results, 
as follows: 

ON ONE SIDE. ON THE OTHER SIDE. 

Dishonor, Honor, 

Free Trade, Protection, 

Breaking down the Su- 
preme Court, Upholding the Court, 

A Silver Standard at the 

ratio of 16 to 1, The Gold Standard, 

Disorder, if not anarchy. National order. 

In another memorandum these words are 



ioo Garret Augustus Hobart 

written: "You cannot coin a good dollar, good 
anywhere in the world, out of forty or fifty cents 
of silver. Any Greenbacker or Populist who pur- 
poses the making of a law which insists that the 
coinage of silver can thus be regulated, is a 
commercial idiot. Without party bias there are 
some things on which we all ought always to 
stand — a good and honest and enduring currency ; 
a national credit undefined; a contented and 
happy people with work in abundance." 

In the outline of a speech in Newark he says: 
" I feel the Republican party is right in its prin- 
ciples when those principles are advocated by 
the best intelligence and the best thought of the 
best men in this land; and when it is opposed by 
all the anarchists and socialists. We are not 
fighting the old Democratic party, nor is the 
Republican party fighting alone. Think of the 
men you know and would trust, whom you have 
been accustomed to look upon as Democrats. 
When the result of the election is finally and fully 
known, the greatest lesson in political morality 
will be taught that was ever taught in America." 

On the occasion of a political meeting in Pater- 
son addressed by Senator Frye, who on several 
occasions spoke to its citizens with great effect, 
Mr. Hobart said: "When the campaign opened, I 
said I would rather have your confidence, your 
esteem, and your support than any office. It 
seems I had it then, and have it still; and this 
rejoices my heart more than all else. The issues 



The Campaign 101 

of this campaign have so overshadowed the per- 
sonality of the candidates that they have not 
been abused. The principles have been so strik- 
ing, so important — involving as they did all there 
was of life and hope in the government — its 
honor, its good name, its credit — that persons 
did not count. The people were not ready for a 
financial revolution, or a reduced value of the 
dollars they earned. They are not ready now. 
They would vote for no currency not as good as 
gold. They will not now." 

The committee appointed by the National Con- 
vention formally to notify Mr. Hobart of his 
nomination went to Paterson on July 7, 1896. 
To mark the occasion and gratify his friends, a 
large number of ladies and gentlemen were in- 
vited to be present. It was a delightful day, and 
the formal exercises took place on the broad piazza 
of his home, enabling more persons to hear the 
speeches. These will be found in Appendix II. 
The address of notification was made by Charles 
W. Fairbanks, Senator from Indiana. Mr. Ho- 
bart's reply immediately followed. After these 
formal exercises the committee and the invited 
guests were hospitably entertained, and the com- 
pany separated with cordial good wishes and 
high hopes for the success of the ticket. Of 
Mr. Hobart's speech the New York Evening Post 
said: "It was the boldest, squarest, and most 
explicit indorsement of the gold standard; the 
frankest admission that the money question is 



102 Garret Augustus Hobart 

to be the one issue of the campaign; that no 
compromise on this question is tolerable or possi- 
ble; but it must be fought out and settled now." 

The letter of acceptance, which will be found in 
full in Appendix III, is on the same lines and as 
uncompromising. It treats in detail the aspect 
of the political field from the Republican point 
of view. Two extracts from his formal utter- 
ances are given here, partly because of their in- 
cisive force and partly because they were largely 
quoted during the campaign. 

On the tariff question he said, on the occasion 
of his notification: "Protection will not only 
build up important industries from small begin- 
nings, but these and all other industries flourish 
or languish in proportion as protection is main- 
tained or withdrawn. I have seen it indisputably 
proved that the prosperity of the farmer, mer- 
chant, and all other classes of citizens goes hand 
in hand with the manufacturer and the mechanic. 
I am fully persuaded that what we need most of 
all to remove the business paralysis that afflicts 
this country is the restoration of a policy which, 
while affording ample revenue to meet the ex- 
penses of the Government, will reopen American 
workshops on full time, with full hands, with 
operatives paid good wages in honest dollars. 
And this can only come under a tariff which will 
hold the interest of our own people paramount 
in our political and commercial institutions." 

On the gold standard, this sentence from his 



The Campaign 103 

letter of acceptance was quoted widely, as a 
clear and succinct expression of the question: 
"Gold is the standard in all commercial nations. 
All financial transactions of whatever character, 
all business enterprises, all individual or corporate 
investments are adjusted to it; an honest dollar, 
worth one hundred cents everywhere, cannot be 
coined out of 53 cents of silver, plus a legislative 
fiat." 

On the same day on which his letter of accep- 
tance was given to the public, Mr. Bryan's letter 
appeared. These letters presented a remarkable 
contrast in the clear statements of the one, and 
the confused statements of the other. The New 
York Press, commenting on these two declara- 
tions, said: "Never before in one day were two 
deliverances on one subject so startlingly dis- 
similar, not merely in the propositions they ad- 
vance, but in their treatment of facts, which lie 
at the bottom of the controversy. Mr. Bryan's 
letter does not touch these facts at all. He recom- 
mends a leap in the dark, but presents nothing — 
not even darkness — to land upon." The Newark 
Advertiser said: "The views of Mr. Hobart are 
not academic or theoretical, but were formed by a 
remarkably acute mind in the school of experi- 
ence." The Dry Goods Economist commented 
on the letter in the same strain: " In Mr. Hobart's 
letter is a clear, convincing, unembellished state- 
ment of easily verified facts, and the natural and 
logical deductions therefrom. Much of what he 



104 Garret Augustus Hobart 

says is new only in form, but in many instances 
that form is happy, epigrammatic, and eminently 
calculated to drive home into the minds of our 
citizens the facts it clothes." And one other 
quotation may be added. It is taken from the 
New York Morning Advertiser: "It is doubtful 
whether any letter of acceptance within the 
memory of living men has been more explicit on a 
single subject than the remarkable contribution 
of the Honorable G. A. Hobart to the currency 
question." 

Reference has already been made to the fact 
that the views of Major McKinley were not so 
decided on the gold question as those of Mr. 
Hobart. It needs to be remembered that Major 
McKinley had not had the same business training 
and experience which Mr. Hobart had enjoyed 
for years. Before Mr. Hobart 's letter was printed, 
it was thought at Canton that it would be wise to 
modify some of its statements. To this he made 
reply: " I think I know the sentiment of Eastern 
men better than you can, and with this knowledge 
and my convictions I must retain the statements 
as I have written them." It was not long before 
Major McKinley accepted their truth and the 
wisdom of the clear expression of them made by 
Mr. Hobart. But necessarily the difference of 
statement was commented upon by the papers. 
The New York Sun said, referring to Mr. Hobart's 
letter: "This is a declaration which should have 
come from the lips of Major McKinley months 



The Campaign 105 

ago. The Major has gradually worked up to a 
statement practically meaning about the same 
thing. But he has as yet at no time enunciated 
the fundamental truths respecting the great issue 
of the campaign comparable for force and clear- 
ness with what Mr. Hobart has said." The 
Evening Post of New York commented on the 
letter thus: "If Mr. Hobart was practically un- 
known to the country, he is known now. At 
Paterson the word gold was spoken and the heav- 
ens did not fall. It is a short word, easy to pro- 
nounce, and will roll as trippingly from the tongue 
as any of the Major's beatings about the bush." 
The Republican papers in the Eastern States 
generally spoke in the highest terms of approval 
of the letter as containing "explicit and forceful 
utterances on the grave points at issue." 

The letter of acceptance was a full and frank 
expression of his views. It commanded respect 
even from those who opposed the views therein 
expressed. The Republican party received it 
with strong approbation, and made effective use 
of it in the campaign. The New York Mail and 
Express says in commenting upon it: "Evasion, 
compromise, and haziness of expression are alike 
foreign to the running mate of William McKinley. 
No clearer or more terse exposition of the financial 
question than his has been given us during the 
present campaign. In every phase of his letter 
he rises above the partisan and enters the realm 
of statesmanship. We commend it to the study 



106 Garret Augustus Hobart 

of all thoughtful men who love their country and 
are desirous of furthering its welfare." To one 
who desires to understand the problems of that 
political campaign this letter will be an invaluable 
aid. 



CHAPTER XI 
The Election — Removal to Washington 

AS the day of the election approached, the 
interest of the nation deepened in the 
questions which divided the two leading 
parties of the country. The great issue of the 
currency had been fully discussed, and its bearings 
on commercial interests and national morals had 
come to be more fully understood. The bold and 
uncompromising attitude taken by Mr. Hobart, 
as well as his skilful management of the campaign, 
did much to secure victory for the ticket and the 
principles for which it stood. He fairly won his 
place as Vice-President by his courage, wisdom, 
and labors during the campaign. But he did 
more, he gained the confidence and admiration of 
the nation. There came to be a general recog- 
nition of his ability and an assurance that by his 
election the office of Vice-President would be 
filled by one who would give it dignity and im- 
portance. He entered on the duties of his office 
with public approbation and the prestige of 
success. 

In his own State and especially in his own city 
the interest was intense, as his overwhelming 
107 



108 Garret Augustus Hobart 

majorities proved. The political status of New 
Jersey as a Republican state was confirmed, and 
the pledges made by those who nominated him 
in the St. Louis Convention were redeemed. 

During this period, Mr. Hobart preserved a 
quiet assurance of the result. He never expressed 
a doubt of the election of the Republican ticket 
or displayed anxiety. Day by day he took his 
full share of labor as a member of the National 
Committee, attended to his business affairs as 
best he could, and quietly went on his way. 
Defeat would not have depressed him, for victory 
did not elate him. He would have grieved more 
for his party and his country than for himself, 
had he been defeated. He did all that was in 
his power to obtain the result desired, and then 
confidently awaited the result. He was the only 
Vice-President who conducted his own campaign. 

On the morning of the day of election he rose 
early and, after breakfast and a glance at the 
daily papers, walked to the polling booth near 
his house, and taking a place in the line of voters 
deposited his ballot. A little later he went to his 
office, and occupied himself with business until 
noOn. His quiet demeanor led a reporter from 
The New York World to say to him: "You do 
not seem to be much disturbed, Mr. Hobart ; have 
you no fears as to the result?" "None at all," 
he replied. "I have no doubt as to the result, 
and never have had since the nominations were 
made." After luncheon at home, he returned to 



The Election — Removal to Washington 109 

his office, attended a meeting of business men 
appointed for that day, transacted other business, 
received those who called, and at five o'clock 
returned to his home. 

As the evening closed in, many friends gath- 
ered at his home to learn the earliest and most 
authentic news, and to be among the first to 
congratulate him. In order to receive the earliest 
news, and to be in touch with all parts of the 
country, three telegraph wires had been run into 
the house, connecting with the headquarters of the 
General Committee and of the State, and with the 
home of Major McKinley at Canton. Experi- 
enced operators were ready to receive the mes- 
sages as fast as they should arrive. Several 
telephones enabled those present to communicate 
the news to anxious friends in and near the city. 
The first message was received at 6:07, and read: 
"City of Chicago, First Precinct, Fourth Ward — 
always Democratic — McKinley 297; Bryan in." 
Whereupon, Mr. Hobart said: "If they are all 
going that way, what will the Republican plur- 
ality be?" Early indications showed gains even 
in the Southern States of Kentucky, West Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee, and Maryland. From moment 
to moment the news came in rapidly and became 
more encouraging and definite, and at 8:30 Mr. 
Hobart, as fresh messages were handed him, said : 
"The battle is won." The battle had indeed been 
won. The excitement of those present grew with 
each announcement. As usual in that home, 



no Garret Augustus Hobart 

preparations had been made to entertain those 
present, but the visitors were too excited to eat. 
After midnight all doubt of the result was dis- 
pelled, and the company dispersed with hearty- 
congratulations and good wishes for the successful 
candidate. Had a total stranger been admitted 
to that home during those hours, he could not 
have guessed, from any excitement manifested, 
who among the throng was the one most in- 
terested in the result. 

A few days after the election, he said: " I do 
not consider my election a personal victory. It 
is the triumph of American patriotism, and it 
belongs to no party. In thousands and thou- 
sands of cases voters have abjured their past 
political creeds and affiliations, and voted as their 
consciences dictated for the supremacy of law and 
to maintain the national honor." He said at 
another time: "I am deeply sensible of the great 
debt I owe the press and the voters of the 
United States, and it will be my endeavor to make 
manifest my grateful appreciation of the hearty 
support accorded me." 

The official returns of the election gave 7,100,369 
votes for the Republican ticket, and 6,497,325 
for the Democratic ticket. There was therefore 
a plurality for McKinley and Hobart of 603,044. 
The total number of votes cast in this election 
was 13,914,494. The majority for the Republican 
candidates was 286,244. The State of New Jersey, 
in addition to the enormous majority of 90,000 



The Election — Removal to Washington in 

votes, sent to Washington a solid delegation of 
eight Republican Congressmen. 

In the interval between the election and his 
inauguration on the fourth of March, Mr. Hobart 
was fully occupied with the settlement of many 
business affairs preparatory to his long absence; 
in searching for a house in Washington where 
he could gratify his social feelings and elevate 
the office he was to fill by a wise hospitality ; and, 
by no means least important, in seeking to under- 
stand the powers of his office and the duties it 
imposed. It was entirely in accord with his 
habits to make a careful study of the situation, 
and thus to fit himself as far as he could for what 
he would be called to do. For this purpose he 
studied with care the conduct of his predecessors, 
and the rules and customs of the Senate over which 
he was now to preside. He sought advice from 
those whom he regarded as best qualified to give it. 
Then with his practical mind and perfect knowledge 
of public feeling he prepared his inaugural address, 
understanding full well how it might be regarded. 

It was suggested by devoted adherents, and 
the matter was even brought before the Legisla- 
ture, that the whole National Guard of New 
Jersey should be sent to Washington to do Mr. 
Hobart honor. This was not in accord with his 
judgment, and was wisely given up. But the 
Second Regiment of the State, whose headquarters 
were at Paterson, went to Washington and took 
part in the inaugural parade. 



ii2 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Accompanied by his family and by a few per- 
sonal friends, Mr. Hobart left his home and private 
life, on the morning of March 2, 1897, to enter 
on new and untried scenes and duties. His busi- 
ness affairs had been carefully arranged pre- 
viously, and his office was in such a condition 
that he could resume his work at any moment. 
A goodly number of his friends went that morning 
to his home to express their hearty good wishes. 
At the station a great crowd had assembled to 
say good-by and God-speed. From one of the 
schools of the city near the railroad all the children 
stood in line along the track and cheered as the 
train went by. One of the city papers said with 
literal truth: "There was not a man, woman, or 
child in the city who did not wish him success." 
All along the line to Jersey City at every station 
there were assembled cheering crowds. At the 
Pennsylvania station in Jersey City they were 
met by Adjutant General Stryker, who conducted 
the party under military and police escort to the 
boat which was to carry them to Communipaw, 
where they were to take a special train on the 
New Jersey Central road for Washington. The 
same enthusiasm was manifested along the whole 
route. The train made a record run to the Capital, 
covering the distance of 230 miles in 233 minutes 
of actual running time, 37 minutes less than its 
schedule time. At Trenton the train stopped to 
take on Governor Griggs, with his family and 
staff. 



The Election — Removal to Washington 113 

At Washington the party was met by members 
of the Reception Committee and escorted to the 
Arlington, where quarters had been prepared for 
them. Soon after their arrival, Vice-President 
Adlai E. Stevenson honored them by a call of 
courtesy, and invitations poured in upon them for 
dinners and receptions that evening. The fatigue 
of the journey and the extraordinary duties of 
the inauguration were made the excuse for de- 
clining them all. John Addison Porter, private 
secretary to the President-elect, brought a request 
from Mr. McKinley that Mr. Hobart should call 
upon him at the Ebbitt House. At this time 
these two men, who were to be so closely asso- 
ciated in their official relations and so united in 
friendship, were almost strangers to each other. 
After they were nominated Mr. Hobart had gone 
to Canton to pay his respects to the head of the 
ticket and to consult him upon important matters, 
but his stay had been short. Little did they re- 
alize, as they now met in Washington, how close 
was to be their fellowship. The interview was 
necessarily brief, but it was the real beginning of 
a friendship and intimacy between the President 
and the Vice-President, which grew into a relation 
between the two highest officials of the nation 
such as was never seen before, and may never 
be seen again. From that hour their hearts were 
knit together in mutual esteem and confidence. 
Their friendship was never broken by envy or 
jealousy. Major McKinley recognized in Mr. 



ii4 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Hobart a wise counsellor and a faithful supporter 
of his administration; and Mr. Hobart saw in 
Major McKinley integrity of purpose to fulfil the 
pledges of his party and to serve the highest 
interests of the nation. His often repeated ex- 
pression of the character of the President was: 
"He is a good man." 



CHAPTER XII 
The Home and Home Life in Washington 

ENVIRONMENT has much to do with the 
formation of habit and character; but 
when these have been formed, and by age 
and circumstances men are free to live their own 
lives, their manner of life becomes the expression 
of the habits and characters which they have 
formed. This expression is shown most fully 
in the home and home life. Instinctively one 
feels, as he enters a home for the first time, the 
impression of the history, the habits, the tastes, 
and the aims of its inmates. The home and the 
home life of the Hobart family made a distinct 
impression on the people of Washington and its 
numerous visitors. Their selection of a dwelling, 
their manner of life, and the atmosphere of their 
residence were the expression of their own charac- 
ters and their conception of the obligations of their 
official position. Happily in their case the means 
were not wanting to enable them to carry out 
generously their intentions. The selection of a 
residence in Washington where they could carry 
out their ideas of the social duties devolving upon 
them in their official position became a matter 
"5 



n6 Garret Augustus Hobart 

of serious consideration. Until a suitable house 
could be found, the family remained at the 
Arlington. 

The house finally taken by them for their home, 
in its location, in its size and plan, and in its asso- 
ciations, was most admirably adapted for their 
purpose. It had already a reputation for hos- 
pitality and political influence. It was No. 21, 
on Lafayette Square, only a short distance from 
the White House. It is impossible to tell what 
this fact alone meant in the relations of the Vice- 
President with the President. No other Vice- 
President had ever lived in such proximity to 
the White House, making possible a close in- 
timacy between the two families. Around the 
beautiful little park, to which Washington had 
given the name of his friend and companion in 
arms, much of the social side of the political 
life of the Capital for many years had been 
gathered. The locality on this account had re- 
ceived the title of the "Historic Corner," and 
the house from its color and the influence of 
its occupants was called by the newspapers "the 
Cream White House." For eighty years it had 
been a social-political centre of influence. Mr. 
Hobart took a lease of this house with its 
furniture, for the term of his office, from Senator 
Don Cameron. Though the section has lost its 
relative importance with the growth of the 
city, it must always retain an interest as a centre 
of historic influence. Calhoun, Clay, Webster, 



Home and Home Life in Washington 117 

Blaine, and Hay all have lived on this square. 
During the Civil War the house was occupied by 
Gen. McClellan as his headquarters. In many 
of these residences distinguished visitors have 
been entertained, and measures concerned with 
national policies and foreign relations have been 
discussed under the harmonizing influences of 
hospitality. 

The house was originally built in 1828 by Benja- 
min Ogle Tayloe, fourteen years after the city 
was burned by the British troops. Col. Tayloe, his 
grandfather, was one of the few millionaires in this 
country in the early years of the last century. 
Although not in political life himself, Mr. Tayloe 
was on intimate terms with the highest govern- 
ment officials, whom he not only frequently 
entertained, but gathered also around his table 
distinguished visitors from other countries. After 
his death, the property was bought by Senator 
Cameron, who almost entirely rebuilt the in- 
terior. When the adjacent property owned by 
Senator Blaine seemed likely to be sold as a site 
for a theatre, this house was offered to the govern- 
ment as a suitable official residence for the Vice- 
President. A bill was introduced in the Senate 
by Senator Gray, of Delaware, authorizing its 
purchase for this purpose. After considerable 
debate, the bill was passed by the Senate, but, 
as the House refused to concur in this action, the 
plan failed. It now became for a short and 
brilliant period the home of the Vice-President, 



n8 Garret Augustus Hobart 

and the centre of not a little of the political and 
social life of the Capital. 

The plan of the house, as well as its location, 
was admirably adapted to the aims of the Vice- 
President. It is of colonial style with an entrance 
on a level with the street under an oriel window. 
The outer doors, protected by an oval portico, 
opened on a square hall from which a broad stair- 
way led to the reception rooms on the second 
floor. The rooms beneath were occupied by the 
Vice-President for the transaction of his official 
business. On the second floor were large rooms, 
opening into each other, giving the opportunity 
for public receptions. These rooms were lighted 
by windows reaching to the floor and opening on 
a veranda, which in summer was filled with vines 
and flowers. The decorations and furniture of 
these rooms were in excellent taste, and when 
pictures and ornaments belonging to the family 
were brought from the Paterson home, they gave 
the feeling of a true home life to all who entered. 

In this well arranged and well managed home 
a delightful hospitality ruled. Rarely was the 
family alone. Old friends and neighbors were 
not forgotten in new scenes and public duties. 
New friends were constantly added to the long 
list, and all received a cordial welcome. Formal 
receptions were frequently given for the wives 
and relatives of officials in Washington, and for 
distinguished visitors. More than once the Senate 
was entertained here as a body, and the President 



Home and Home Life in Washington 119 

himself became a guest to meet informally those 
with whom he came in contact otherwise only 
officially. Many times unofficially the President 
entered these doors and found a welcome. In 
such social intercourse political feeling had no 
place. The social life of the " Cream White 
House" thus became an important element in 
the political influence of the administration. 
Among the notable entertainments in this house 
were the formal dinner and reception given to the 
British Boundary Commission headed by Lord 
Herschell, and the still larger and more elaborate 
dinner and reception given to Albert, Prince of 
the Belgians, on his visit to this country. At 
this entertainment, the Prince, instead of being 
placed in the seclusion of royalty, and having a 
select few presented to him, was asked to take 
his place in the receiving line and to shake hands 
with all the guests presented. The Prince ex- 
pressed in a most kindly way his gratification 
with his unusual reception. Here also ministers 
and ambassadors from foreign countries were 
entertained, often without formality. 

These social duties made great demands on 
Mrs. Hobart, which were met with cheerful kind- 
ness and unfailing tact. Her own great sorrow, 
still fresh in memory, was hidden from sight as 
she received her guests with cordial words, and 
sought to make them all feel at ease. No one 
in the large assemblies, seeming alone and un- 
noticed, escaped her attention. There are many 



120 Garret Augustus Hobart 

who remember with gratitude the kind thought- 
fulness of the hostess to them as strangers. M. 
Rod, the French Academician, paid Mrs. Hobart 
a graceful compliment, saying: "Mrs. Hobart 
gave you her hand and a smile of welcome, and 
you felt she was truly glad to see you, and that it 
was not a perfunctory ceremony gone through so 
many times a week according to official etiquette." 
It is not a wonder that a deep regret was expressed 
when it was announced that Mr. Hobart was too 
seriously ill to cherish a hope of recovery, and 
that this home would never open again its doors 
with these genial hosts to welcome all who 
entered. 



CHAPTER XIII 
Inauguration of the Vice-President 



*o 



THE morning of the Fourth of March, 1897, 
dawned auspiciously, and gave the promise 
of a perfect day. The sun rose on the 
crowded city of Washington with exceptional 
clearness. The air was crisp and bracing. It 
was an ideal day for the ceremonies attending 
the inauguration of the President. Every one 
felt the invigorating influence of the occasion and 
of the weather. The streets were early filled 
with eager throngs from every State and Territory 
of the Union, ready to take part in the events of 
the day, or to witness from some point of ad- 
vantage the stirring scenes. Each incoming train 
increased the mighty hosts which early filled the 
streets. Squadrons of cavalry, regiments of in- 
fantry, brigades of soldiers and sailors of the 
army and navy of the United States ; regiments of 
the National Guard from various States; civic and 
political bodies, with bands of music, gave interest, 
color, and variety to the scene. Never had the 
capital of the nation presented a more animated 
and interesting appearance. 

Naturally, the larger number of those present 



122 Garret Augustus Hobart 

were of the party coming again into power after 
a short period of Democratic ascendency. The 
Republicans had fought a great battle, and now 
poured out in vast numbers to enjoy the triumph. 
The President of their choice, who had led the 
way to victory, was now to be placed in power. 
But to an unusual degree the honor of this success 
was given to the man, who, by his uncompromis- 
ing stand for the principle of a sound currency, 
had committed his party to this action, and con- 
tributed to its success. The people recognized his 
right to a share in the honors of the day. Large 
numbers had come from his own State to do him 
honor. 

Soon after ten o'clock the open space in front 
of the Arlington, where Mr. Hobart and his party 
were staying, was occupied by the Essex Troop 
of the National Guard of New Jersey, under the 
command of Col. Frelinghuysen, which had come 
to Washington to be the escort of the Vice- 
President-elect. Senator Elkins of West Virginia, 
who represented the Senate Inauguration Com- 
mittee, came at the same hour to accompany Mr. 
Hobart to the Capitol. With this brilliant escort 
they proceeded to the Capitol, passed through the 
lines of police guarding the building, and went 
to the Vice-President's room. 

The Senate Chamber was for the time the 
centre of interest, and had been prepared to ac- 
commodate as many persons as possible. The 
session of the Senate had lasted through the night, 



Inauguration of the Vice-President 123 

and the day had begun to dawn before a recess 
was taken. With all haste possible the Chamber 
was being prepared for the inauguration. Here, 
as President of the Senate, the Vice-President 
was to be inducted into office; while the President, 
as the ruler of the nation, was to take the oath of 
office in the open air in the presence of the people. 

The Senate Chamber on this occasion had none 
of its accustomed appearance of dignity. Addi- 
tional seats filled every available place on the 
floor and in the galleries. The Senators were 
crowded together on one side of the Chamber, 
and were compelled to share this space with the 
selected Cabinet of the incoming administration. 
Every place in the galleries was filled. The 
Executive Gallery contained the families and 
friends of the President- and Vice- President-elect. 
The Diplomatic Gallery was crowded with the 
families and staffs of the ambassadors and minis- 
ters of other nations. The Senate Gallery held 
the families of the Senators and Representatives. 
Every place open to the general public was occu- 
pied long before the ceremonies began. 

A touching sight was witnessed in the Executive 
Gallery when Mrs. McKinley, the wife of the 
President-elect, who had been for years an invalid, 
was assisted to reach her place. And even more 
touching was the sight of the mother, Nancy 
Allison McKinley, who had passed the limit of 
fourscore years, as with vigorous step and eager 
look, her face flushed with just pride, she came to 



124 Garret Augustus Hobart 

witness the honor given to her son in becoming 
President of the United States. As she passed 
to the place reserved for her, every heart was 
moved in sympathy, and every one rejoiced that 
her life had been spared that she might be 
present on this glad occasion, and give a mother's 
blessing on the honor put upon her son. No one 
in all the assembly looked so bright and happy 
as this mother, who gave to the scene its closest 
touch of human interest. 

The hour had now come for the important 
ceremony of the induction into office of the Vice- 
President, who was to become the presiding 
officer of the Senate. The retiring Vice-President 
took his place in the chair, and with the sound of 
the gavel the doors were opened, and the door- 
keeper advancing down the aisle announced "the 
ambassadors from foreign countries." The four 
ambassadors in the order of their appointment, 
Sir Julian Pauncefote leading the way, followed 
by M. Patenotre, Baron Fava, and Count von 
Theilmann, passed down the aisle, as the Senate 
rose in respect, to the seats reserved for them 
directly under the platform of the President and 
facing the audience. With the same ceremony 
the ministers of foreign countries, led by Minister 
Romero of Mexico as doyen, were seated; and 
after them, successively, the Supreme Court of 
the United States; the Cabinet of the outgoing 
administration; officers of the army and navy; 
Governors of States ; the House of Representatives 



Inauguration of the Vice-President 125 

and members-elect, led by their Speaker, for whom 
a special seat had been reserved near the desk. 
Mr. Hobart came next, escorted by Senator Elkins, 
and, as the whole assemblage rose, was led to a 
seat on the side of the dais. From a door behind 
the desk, President Cleveland with Mr. McKinley, 
attended by the members of the Senate Com- 
mittee, then entered, and were seated beside the 
ambassadors. They were followed by General 
Miles, representing the army, and a high officer of 
the navy. The Grand Marshal of the day, with 
his three aides, sons of former Presidents, was 
the last to enter the Senate Chamber. 

Vice-President Stevenson called the Senate to 
order. Senator Hoar announced to the chair that 
the business of the session was completed. The 
Vice-President then administered the oath of 
office to Mr. Hobart as he stood beside him with 
his right hand uplifted. To this oath, with a 
pen given him by a clerk, he subscribed his name. 
In this quiet way the citizen became Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. Mr. Stevenson then 
delivered a valedictory address, closing with these 
words: "Senators: My parting words have been 
spoken, and I now discharge my last official duty, 
that of declaring the Senate adjourned without 
day." The sessions of the Senate of the 54th 
Congress of the United States thus came to an 
end. 

The Secretary of the Senate, William R. Cox, 
read the call of the President convening the Senate 



126 Garret Augustus Hobart 

in extra session. Vice-President Hobart, in virtue 
of his office, then took the chair and called the 
Senate to order. The Rev. Dr. Milburn, the 
chaplain of the Senate, offered prayer. The in- 
augural address was then delivered by the newly 
made Vice-President. It was followed by his first 
official act when he administered the oath of office 
to the Senators-elect. The Senate at the conclu- 
sion of these ceremonies took a recess for the 
purpose of witnessing the inauguration of the 
President-elect. For a brief space the country 
had a Democrat for President, and a Republican 
for Vice-President. 

A procession was then formed to pass from 
the Senate Chamber to the east portico of the 
Capitol, where the oath of office was to be adminis- 
tered to the President-elect. It was a notable 
body of men which passed through the long cor- 
ridor into the rotunda, and thence to the platform 
over the portico into the presence of the people 
gathered to witness the ceremony. The marshal 
of the District Court of Columbia and the marshal 
of the Supreme Court led the way, followed by 
the presidential party, the ambassadors, the 
Cabinet, and the members of the two Houses of 
Congress. The oath of office was administered 
by Chief Justice Fuller of the Supreme Court, 
and after it, following by preference the example 
of Washington, the newly-made President de- 
livered his inaugural address. And in this simple 
manner, the ceremony only occupying six minutes, 



Inauguration of the Vice-President 127 

the government changed hands, a private citizen 
a moment before became President of the United 
States, and one of the most influential persons in 
the world. With good reason he made the in- 
augural address as the President, and not, as 
had been done recently, as President-elect. 

Those who were present on that occasion no- 
ticed a considerable number of empty seats on 
the platform, and few at the time understood the 
reason. These seats had been reserved for the 
foreign ministers. When the diplomatic body 
had assembled in the Marble Room of the Capitol 
before going to the Senate Chamber, some feel- 
ing had been manifested among them, because, 
for the first time, the ambassadors were to be 
distinguished from the ministers; and when no 
formal place was assigned them in the passage 
to the scene of the inauguration they quietly 
dispersed and left the seats reserved for them 
unoccupied. 

After the ceremony of inauguration, the Senate 
reconvened and formally adjourned. Luncheon 
had been provided at the Capitol for the presi- 
dential party. As soon as it was finished, the 
President and ex- President, the Vice-President 
and ex-Vice-President entered carriages, and under 
military escort drove to the reviewing stand, 
which had been erected on the grounds of the 
White House. On this drive the positions of the 
two principal persons were reversed. President 
McKinley now occupied the seat of honor, which 



128 Garret Augustus Hobart 

on the passage to the Capitol had been occupied 
by President Cleveland. 

It had been the custom for the ex-President 
immediately to efface himself at this point. But 
in this instance, a well deserved honor was shown 
to the retiring President. The Grand Marshal of 
the day, General Porter, had ordered a military es- 
cort to accompany Mr. Cleveland from the scene. 
He was conveyed to the wharf at the foot of 
Seventh Street, where a tender was waiting with 
steam up to carry him on a fishing excursion 
for which he had made arrangements. In a few 
moments the man in whose hands such power had 
been placed, and who had won the respect of the 
nation, was looking over his rods and lines, glad 
to find relief from the cares and responsibili- 
ties of his office. Mrs. Cleveland awaited Mrs. 
McKinley's arrival at the White House, where 
she had luncheon prepared for the newcomers. 
Immediately after she had welcomed them, she 
quietly disappeared, and was soon on her way to 
the station where she took a train for Princeton, 
New Jersey. In that beautiful college town Mr. 
Cleveland had purchased a house, and there he 
lived in honored retirement, filling an important 
place in the government and instruction of the 
university, and exerting a powerful and healthful 
influence in national affairs. 

On the arrival of the President and Vice-Presi- 
dent at the White House grounds, they took their 
places in the reviewing stand with their families, 



Inauguration of the Vice-President 129 

and for two hours and forty minutes returned the 
salutes of the troops and civic bodies passing 
before them. It was a noticeable feature of that 
occasion that the colored troops were received 
with repeated cheers as they marched in the long 
line, and that the bands of music varied patriotic 
airs with "Dixie" and "My Maryland." The 
usual inaugural ball was held in the evening, and 
was attended by more than five thousand persons. 
The Pension Building was used for the purpose, 
and was beautifully decorated with flags and 
flowers. About half after nine the President 
and Vice-President with their families appeared, 
and passed through the crowded building, a way 
being made through the throng by asking the 
men to clear a lane by joining hands and holding 
the crowd back. After supper they retired from 
the building, and the day so eventful for them all 
came to an end. 



CHAPTER XIV 
The Inaugural Address — Its Reception 

THE inaugural address of the Vice-President 
was awaited with some anxiety by the Sen- 
ate, and with much interest by the nation. 
Questions of grave importance to the business 
interests of the country had not been promptly 
acted on by the Senate, even after adequate dis- 
cussion, on the plea of Senatorial courtesy, which 
forbade any limitation of debate. In the House, 
both by its own rules and by the will of the 
Speaker, a vote on a bill could be forced, but in 
the Senate, neither by existing rule nor by the 
will of its President, could a limit be placed on 
debate. It was entirely possible for a single 
member to talk a bill to death, and thus prevent 
important legislation. That this is not an im- 
possibility has been proved in recent times, when 
in the Senate three Senators attempted to annul 
the will of eighty-nine. The long-drawn-out de- 
bate in the Senate on the repeal of the Sherman 
Silver-Purchase Act, and the threatened exercise 
of this privilege on other questions awakened the 
attention of the country to a danger not before 
apprehended. Senator Allen, of Nebraska, speak- 
130 



The Inaugural Address — Its Reception 131 

ing on the currency question held the floor of the 
Senate for eighteen consecutive hours. The nation, 
with easy tolerance, first laughed, then found fault, 
and finally became angry. The general condem- 
nation was often expressed in the newspapers. 
Some idea of the prevalent feeling may be ob- 
tained from an extract taken from The Nation, 
suggesting what Mr. Hobart's address should be 
to express public opinion. It said : 

Senators: — My predecessor on taking this chair four 
years ago characterized you as the most august legislative 
assembly on earth. He would now doubtless give worlds 
to withdraw that phrase. It is my duty, sent here by the 
direct vote of the people, to tell you that you are nothing 
of the kind. No other legislative body in a free country 
is so much despised, and at the same time dreaded, as you 
are. Another four years like the last of steady affront 
to the best sentiment of the nation, of aid and comfort 
given to agitators and incendiaries, of shameless trifling 
with the country's good name, of dull insensate opposition 
to all political progress and to political purity will fill up 
the cup of your iniquity. What you have really done is 
to make the dignity of the Senate a hissing and a byword. 

There can be no doubt that a very deep feeling 
of condemnation pervaded the country, when 
such words could appear in print. 

To some degree this feeling found place and 
expression in the Senate itself. So frequent and 
vigorous was the comment throughout the coun- 
try, and so many and severe were the strictures on 
the Senate's course, that a movement to remedy 



132 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the evil had actually begun in the Upper House. 
Senator Hoar and Senator Mason prepared bills 
to provide some form of cloture of debate. Such 
a rule has been adopted as a necessity by the 
French Chamber of Deputies, and Mr. Gladstone 
in the Parliament of 1881-82 was forced to adopt 
the cloture to secure action. Certainly the Sen- 
ate of the United States cannot become a^per- 
petual debating club either for its own amusement 
or for political ends. 

It was this condition which created so deep an 
interest in all parts of the country in Mr. Hobart 's 
address. No one doubted that this practical man 
had convictions on the subject, and no one ques- 
tioned that he had the courage to give them 
expression. Indeed it was well understood, 
and probably from hints given by himself, that 
he intended to make expression of his views 
in his address. It seems unquestionable that 
this apprehension of what his successor would 
say influenced the valedictory of Vice-President 
Stevenson. The two addresses on this point have 
somewhat the character of a debate. Although 
the inaugural address is included in this chapter, 
an extract may have place here in contrast with 
the warning words of the retiring President of 
the Senate. 

Mr. Stevenson said in his valedictory : 
" Of those who clamor against the Senate and its 
methods of procedure, it may be truly said ' they 
know not what they do.' In this chamber alone 



The Inaugural Address — Its Reception 133 

are preserved, without restraint, the two essen- 
tials of wise legislation and good government, the 
right of amendment and of debate. ... In my 
humble judgment, the historic Senate, preserving 
the unrestricted right of amendment and debate, 
maintaining intact the time-honored parliamen- 
tary methods and amenities, which unfailingly 
secure action after deliberation, possesses in our 
scheme of government a value which cannot be 
measured by words. The Senate is a perpetual 
body, organized to guard against dangers which 
have wrecked other attempts to establish Republi- 
can government. To guard against these dangers 
the chief hope of the framers of the Constitu- 
tion was placed in the Senate, which abides and 
will continue to abide, one and the same body 
until the Republic itself shall be overthrown, or 
time shall be no more." 

It was not Mr. Hobart's desire to overthrow 
the Republic when he said: 

"It will be my constant effort to aid you, so far as 
I may, in all reasonable expedition of the business 
of the Senate. I may be permitted to express the 
belief that such expedition is the hope of the coun- 
try. All the interests of good government, and the 
advancement toward a higher and better condi- 
tion of things call for prompt and positive legisla- 
tion at your hands. To obstruct the regular 
course of wise and prudent legislative action, 
after the fullest and freest discussion, is neither 
consistent with true Senatorial courtesy, condu- 



134 Garret Augustus Hobart 

cive to the welfare of the people, nor in compliance 
with their just expectations." 

The last words of the 54th Congress in the Senate 
were for the unchangeable past, the first words of 
the 55 th Congress were for progress in the future 
on safe lines, meeting new conditions with new 
methods. The apprehension in the Senate from 
the words of its President as he began his duties 
was allayed by his calm utterance, his quiet de- 
meanor, and the charm of his personality. It was 
impossible to take offence where no offence was 
given. His honest expression of his views com- 
pelled respect. The Senate waited in vain for 
aggressive antagonism. When he finished his 
brief address, President Cleveland turned to his 
successor sitting by his side and said: "That was 
an excellent speech, delivered in the sweetest 
voice I have heard in many a month." 

The impression made on one at least of the 
Senators is given in The Memorial Addresses 
published by the Government after the death of 
the Vice-President. Senator Daniel, of Virginia, 
said: "Few of us knew him, and few indeed had 
ever seen him before he appeared on inauguration 
day, the 4th of March, 1897, to take the oath of 
office. But his genial, manly countenance, beam- 
ing with health, intelligence, and good nature, 
and the unaffected dignity of the refined and 
accomplished gentleman which characterized his 
bearing, were a pleasing introduction before 
personal presentations were made; and as soon 



The Inaugural Address — Its Reception 135 

as he assumed his duties it was evident the gavel 
was in a master's hand." The gavel which Mr. 
Hobart used on the occasion of his inauguration 
was given him by the officers and directors of the 
two banks in Paterson with which he was con- 
nected. It was made from the wood of an apple 
tree which grew near his birthplace at Long 
Branch, and was carved and mounted in gold. 
Senator Cullom, of Illinois, gave at the time of the 
inauguration his impression of the man: "Adlai 
E. Stevenson," he said, "became much beloved 
by the Senate. He also fell in love with the body. 
Hence he left us with benedictions, and Hobart 
came in with the decision and aplomb of a busy 
and experienced administrator. I never saw any- 
thing like Hobart's ease and dispatch from the 
time he began the swearing in of the new Senators. 
They say he presided over both Houses of the 
New Jersey Legislature, and some think he con- 
siders the Senate about the same. Hobart is an 
able man. He gives a commercial touch to our 
body it has not had in my time." 

The address of the Vice-President which awak- 
ened so much interest was as follows: 

Senators: To have been elected to preside over the 
Senate of the United States is a distinction which any 
citizen would prize, and the manifestation of confidence 
which it implies is an honor which I sincerely appreciate, 

My gratitude and loyalty to the people of the country, 
to whom I owe this honor, and my duty to you as well 
demand such a conservative, equitable and conscientious 



136 Garret Augustus Hobart 

construction and enforcement of your rules as shall pro- 
mote the well-being and prosperity of the people, and at 
the same time conserve the time-honored precedents and 
established traditions which have contributed to make 
this tribunal the most distinguished of the legislative 
bodies of the world. 

In entering upon the duties of the office to which I have 
been chosen, I feel a peculiar delicacy, for I am aware that 
your body with whom, for a time, I will be associated, 
has had but a small voice in the selection of its presiding 
officer, and that I am called upon to conduct your delibera- 
tions while not perhaps your choice in point of either merit 
or fitness. 

It will be my constant effort to aid you so far as I may 
in all reasonable expedition of the business of the Senate, 
and I may be permitted to express the belief that such 
expedition is the hope of the country. All the interests 
of good government and the advancement toward a higher 
and better condition of things call for prompt and positive 
legislation at your hands. To obstruct the regular course 
of wise and prudent legislative action after the fullest and 
freest discussion is neither consistent with true Senatorial 
courtesy, conducive to the welfare of the people, nor in 
compliance with their just expectations. 

While assisting in the settlement of the grave questions 
which devolve upon the Senate of the United States, it 
will be my endeavor to so guide its deliberations that its 
wisdom may be fruitful in works, at the same time exer- 
cising such fairness and impartiality within the rules of 
the Senate as shall deserve at least your good opinion for 
the sincerity of my effort. 

Unfamiliar with your rules and manner of procedure, I 
can only promise that I will bring all the ability I possess 
to the faithful discharge of every duty as it may devolve 
upon me, relying always upon your suggestions, your ad- 
vice, and your co-operation, and I should feel unequal to 



The Inaugural Address — Its Reception 137 

the task did I not trustfully anticipate that indulgent aid 
and consideration which you have at all times given to my 
predecessors, and without which I could not hope to acquit 
myself to your satisfaction or with any degree of personal 
credit. 

It shall be my highest aim to justify the confidence the 
people have reposed in me by discharging my duties in 
such a manner as to lighten your labor, secure your appre- 
ciation of my honest effort to administer your rules with 
an eye single to the public good, and promote the pleasant 
and efficient transaction of the public business. 

I trust that our official and personal relations may be 
alike agreeable; that the friendships we may form here 
may be genuine and lasting, and that the work of the 
Senate may redound to the peace and honor of the country 
and the prosperity and happiness of all the people. 



CHAPTER XV 
The Office of Vice-President 

IN order to form a correct appreciation of the 
place which Mr. Hobart came to fill in public 
life and opinion in the office of Vice-President, 
it is necessary to keep in mind the nature of the 
office as defined by the Constitution, and also 
the comparative insignificance with which it had 
come to be regarded, not only by the people, but 
even by the Senate itself. In many of the news- 
papers of the day it was seriously said that in 
accepting this office he had consigned himself to 
oblivion, and would never be heard of again. 
All the world knows how far these predictions 
were from fulfilment. It was in the faithful per- 
formance of the narrow duties of his office that 
he became widely known and truly honored. 
The simple and undeniable fact appears that a 
man, in the legal profession, who had been oc- 
cupied with business affairs and political manage- 
ment and who was comparatively unknown, came 
to be the confidential friend and adviser of the 
President; the intimate associate of leading men 
of all parties, and of ambassadors and ministers; 
the respected and beloved President of the Senate ; 
138 



The Office of Vice-President 139 

and one of the best known and honored citizens 
of the nation in an office which was supposed 
to relegate him to obscurity. His personality, 
ability, and fidelity commanded respect, and gave 
meaning and character to his office. He gave to 
the office which he held fresh importance. 

In consequence of the dangerous rivalry between 
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in 1800, who 
were candidates for the offices of President and 
Vice-President, the constitutional mode of election 
for these offices was altered. Previously, the 
electors from the several States had cast their 
votes for President and Vice-President without 
designating the individual for the office. The 
one receiving the majority of votes became 
President, and the other one Vice-President. In 
the bitter dispute which arose at that time a 
danger became evident, which required a remedy. 
Under the old form of election, a personal rival 
of the President might fill the second place with 
the right of succession. It was not in human 
nature, under such conditions, that an adminis- 
tration should be harmonious, or that the personal 
relations between those filling these offices should 
be either pleasant or confidential. By the Con- 
stitutional amendment which was adopted at this 
time, the electors of the States cast their votes 
for an individual designated for the office. This 
amendment was not passed without opposition. 
Roger Griswold gave expression to the fears of 
many in these words: "Should this amendment 



i4° Garret Augustus Hobart 

be adopted, the man voted for as Vice-President 
will be selected without any decisive view to his 
qualifications to administer the government. The 
only criterion will be the temporary influence of the 
candidate over the electors. ' ' No change was thus 
made, or has been made since, in the functions of 
the Vice- Presidency. The solitary duty of a 
Vice-President is to preside over the sessions of 
the Senate. He has absolutely no power, with 
the single exception of casting the deciding vote 
when there is a tie. His privileges are summed 
up in the appointment of his secretary and of two 
messengers. No place is assigned him in any 
council of the Government, or function of state. 
So anomalous did the office seem to Benjamin 
Franklin, the sagacious humorist of that period, 
that he proposed as the title of the Vice-President, 
" His Most Superfluous Highness. ' ' Thomas Jeffer- 
son said: "It is the only office in the world about 
which I am unable to decide whether I would 
rather have it or not." 

The Senate of the United States is the only con- 
tinuous legislative body in the country having a 
Constitutional existence. At noon on the 4th 
of March of every odd year the House of Repre- 
sentatives passes out of existence. The Senate 
never ceases to exist. One third of its members 
changes every two years, but at all times two 
thirds of its members remain as the Senate of the 
United States. Over this body, but not a member 
of it, the Vice-President in virtue of his office pre- 



The Office of Vice-President 141 

sides. The superimposed presiding officer may 
thus be in antagonism at certain times with the 
majority of the body. In such a contingency the 
Senate can have only a personal regard for a pre- 
siding officer, whom it has not chosen, and whom 
it will outlive. Strong in its position and Con- 
stitutional rights, it is jealous of its prerogatives, 
and its gradually established customs, which have 
almost a sacred authority in its own eyes. 

For the first six years after the Constitution was 
adopted, all the sessions of the Senate were held 
with closed doors. At a session held April 18, 1 792, 
a motion was made to admit the members of the 
House of Representatives to hear the debates, 
which received only six affirmative votes. The 
secrecy of its ordinary sessions was abolished 
December 9, 1795. Executive sessions are now 
held only under a rule of the Senate. 

At the earliest opportunity after the induction 
of a new Vice-President, the Senate proceeds to 
elect a President pro tempore of its own number, 
who shall occupy the chair in the absence of its 
Constitutional President. At times, at least, in 
this action there has been a clear intimation that 
the Senate could get on very well without the 
presence of the Vice-President. This hint or 
privilege, as it may be regarded, has been accepted 
with great liberality by some who have filled the 
office, and, it must be added, with perfect in- 
difference by the nation. Should the Speaker of 
the House thus absent himself, comment and 



142 Garret Augustus Hobart 

censure would be heard. But the absence of the 
President of the Senate excites neither criticism 
nor remark. 

With this indifferent view of the office some 
newspapers of the day advised Mr. Hobart after 
calling the Senate to order, "to go to sleep, and 
not wake up for four years." But he had taken 
office with no such notion. He accepted the 
office with the serious intention to perform its 
duties with strict fidelity. He would not be con- 
tent to be the inconspicuous and idle understudy 
of the President, of no more immediate value than 
a fifth wheel to a wagon. If the office in itself 
carried with it possibility rather than responsi- 
bility, he would not efface himself, and live a mere 
waiter on providence. He meant to perform the 
duties of his office with all fidelity. He meant to 
preside over the sessions of the Senate, take an 
interest in its discussions, and enter into personal 
relations with each Senator. He intended that 
the nation and the Senate should understand that 
he had an office to fill and duties to perform. 

Through a continuous history, as long as the 
national existence, the Senate has naturally es- 
tablished precedents and formed habits, and 
evolved rules. Always retaining in itself the me- 
mories of previous acts, it is ever harking back to 
the past and moulding even its minute actions on 
precedents. George C. Gorham, who was for 
eleven years Secretary of the Senate, prepared 
for Mr. Hobart a paper in which he gave his 



The Office of Vice-President 143 

personal views of the rules and customs of this 
body. In this paper he said: "The Senate is 
governed almost as much by usage as by written 
rules. Indeed one of its unbinding rules is to do 
nothing it has never done before, and in what it 
does never to deviate from previous methods. 
If an incident occurs out of the common it is not 
dealt with in an offhand manner, in accordance 
with the judgment of those present, but the 
journal is searched until a similar case is found, 
and whatever course was then pursued is carefully 
followed." 

With little power of initiative in the Govern- 
ment, and therefore able to be deliberate, the 
Senate has developed a fine sense of dignity and 
courtesy in its actions which has produced strange 
results for a legislative body. As it would be 
discourteous for one gentleman to intimate to 
another how long he should speak or whether his 
remarks were germane to the subject, so in this 
body no limit can be placed upon debate except 
the good sense and right principle of the individual 
member. Though for a short time a form of clo- 
ture was adopted, it is now no longer permissible 
to limit the time a member shall occupy in dis- 
cussion or to question the relevancy of his remarks. 
The Senator controls the Senate. The only way 
of limiting debate is by the exhaustion of a con- 
tinuous session day and night, or by the Constitu- 
tional right to call for the ayes and noes at any 
time without debate, provided some motion — 



144 Garret Augustus Hobart 

which may be only a motion to adjourn — shall 
intervene. One fifth of the Senate can thus ob- 
struct and even stop legislation. At the close of 
the session, when business presses, a single Senator 
can defeat a measure approved by a large ma- 
jority by the simple announcement that he means 
to talk it to death if a vote is called for. Secre- 
tary Gorham in the paper already quoted also 
says: "There is a rule of the Senate which com- 
mands every Senator to vote, but it is a dead letter. 
No sergeant-at-arms has been found who would 
lay violent hands upon a truant Senator and 
compel his attendance." 

It can readily be seen when, immediately pre- 
vious to his induction into office, the nation had 
been roused to indignation by the dilatoriness 
of the Senate to pass the tariff bill on the ground 
of courtesy to a member, what an excitement 
was created when the newspapers announced 
that Mr. Hobart meant to cast precedents aside, 
and force upon the Senate some form of cloture 
of debate. As to his judgment in the matter 
then pending no one could doubt what he would 
approve, but few who knew him imagined he would 
go beyond his province or a prudent consideration 
of the rules and customs of the Senate. 

The limitations of his office, as President of the 
Senate, were fully understood by Mr. Hobart. 
He recognized that his position was very different 
from that of the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. He did not represent a Congressional 



The Office of Vice-President 145 

district or a State, but the nation. He was, 
therefore, separate from the body over which he 
Constitutionally presided . As a matter of courtesy 
he might perhaps address the Senate on the sub- 
ject under consideration, but not as a right of his 
office. He had no power to appoint a committee, 
or to arrange for the consideration of any par- 
ticular business. He was not even admitted to 
the caucus of his own party. His only power was 
to rule on a point of order, put the question to 
vote, and declare the result; and, in case of a tie, 
to cast the deciding vote. This power of final 
decision became a matter of importance during 
his term of office. At one time the ascendency 
of the Republican party in the Senate depended 
on the admission of a Senator from Kentucky and 
the vote of the Vice-President. The election 
of Mr. Deboe of Kentucky, after a contest lasting 
sixteen months, made the Republican members 
at that time of equal number with the Democrats. 
The Republican party's power was for a time 
sustained by two men from two traditionally 
Democratic States. 

The power, which under rare circumstances 
may be in the hands of the Vice-President, was 
exercised by Mr. Hobart in an important matter. 
On February 14, 1899, the purpose of the United 
States toward the Philippine Islands was under 
debate in the Senate. The joint resolution pro- 
posed by Senator McEnery set forth the inten- 
tion of the United States in these words: "It is 



146 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the intention of the United States to establish 
on said islands a government suitable to the wants 
and conditions of the inhabitants of said islands, 
to prepare them for local self-government, and in 
due time to make such disposition of said islands 
as best promotes the interests of the citizens of the 
United States and the inhabitants of said islands." 
Senator Bacon proposed as an amendment : " When 
a stable and independent government shall be 
erected therein, entitled, in the judgment of the 
Government of the United States to recognition 
as such, to transfer to said government upon terms 
which shall be reasonable and just, all rights se- 
cured under the cession by Spain, and to there- 
upon leave the government and control of the 
islands to their people." The vote on this amend- 
ment was equally divided. Twenty-nine votes 
were cast in its favor and an equal number in 
opposition. The casting vote by the Vice-Presi- 
dent defeated the amendment, and left the policy 
of the Government to be settled by future condi- 
tions. The Boston Watchman said, November 30, 
1899, in a review of Mr. Hobart's life: "The late 
Vice-President doubtless performed many acts 
of far-reaching consequence, but we doubt if any 
one of them was pregnant with such important 
results as his casting vote by which the Bacon 
amendment was defeated." 

If on the legislative side of the Government a 
Vice-President seems to fill a position of small im- 
portance, this is even more apparent on the execu- 



The Office of Vice-President 147 

tive side. By virtue of his office he does not be- 
come a member of the Cabinet, nor can he claim 
to be admitted to the councils of the administra- 
tion. The two men who fill the highest offices 
in the country may scarcely have known each 
other by name before their election. Usually 
they have come from widely separated parts of 
the country and from opposing factions of the 
party. Indeed the Vice-President may have been 
a rival for the higher office, and his nomination 
been given to appease his resentment or to placate 
an aggrieved faction. The President, who must 
take the first step toward intimate relations, may 
be indifferent to the Vice-President from lack of 
acquaintance, past rivalry, political policy, or 
social standing. In every case something of the 
feeling which has often existed between the 
reigning sovereign and the heir apparent is likely 
to be aroused. Whatever may be the reason, the 
fact is undeniable that there has seldom been even 
a nominal relation of friendship between those 
who have held these offices, and they have seldom 
appeared together in public functions. More 
than once there has been practically no inter- 
course between them during the whole term of 
an administration. It is said that the only time 
when President Buchanan summoned Vice-Presi- 
dent Breckenridge to the White House was to 
consult him with regard to some words to be used 
in a Thanksgiving proclamation. 

In his official life the Vice-President stands 



148 Garret Augustus Hobart 

singularly alone, without definite place or power. 
His position is undefined, his duties are largely per- 
functory, and his powers insignificant. He seems 
to exist only for an exigency. It is not strange 
then that this office has extinguished distinguished 
men. To this office Mr. Hobart gave a new dis- 
tinction. In this office he gained the esteem 
and confidence of the President, the respect and 
affection of the Senate, and the admiration and 
regard of the whole nation. With a modest 
dignity he discharged with fidelity his duties, 
and in honoring his office was honored himself. 

To this consideration of the office of Vice- 
President it may be of interest to add that the 
possibility of succession to the Presidency is not 
so remote as is often imagined. Five times in 
the history of the nation has a Vice-President suc- 
ceeded to office by the death of the President. 
John Tyler succeeded President Harrison ; Millard 
Fillmore, President Taylor; Andrew Johnson, 
President Lincoln; Chester A. Arthur, President 
Garfield; and Theodore Roosevelt, President Mc- 
Kinley. Certainly it seems to be established that 
it is for the interest of the party in power and for 
the nation at large that the Vice-President, who 
may at any hour succeed to the Presidency, should 
be acquainted and in accord with the policy of 
the administration. The words spoken in the 
nominating convention deserve to be remembered : 
"A man who is not big enough to be President 
is not big enough to be Vice-President." 



CHAPTER XVI 
Mr. Hobart as Vice-President 

FROM what has been said it is evident that 
a Vice-President may fulfil in good measure 
the duties of his office without attracting 
attention, or may neglect them without excit- 
ing remark. Of so little importance did the 
post appear in the public view that The Chicago 
News made the prediction: "Mr. Hobart will not 
be seen nor heard until after four years he emerges 
from the impenetrable vacuum called the Vice- 
Presidency." The Springfield Republican an- 
nounced: " Mr. Hobart's choice lies between trying 
to rival 'Czar' Reed and sinking into the usual 
Vice-Presidential place of passive insignificance." 
Such expressions serve only to show how little 
was expected of a person who filled the office, and 
how little was known of the man who now filled it. 
For the performance of the duties of his office 
he prepared himself by a careful study of the place 
it filled in the national government; its history; 
its rules and customs ; and last, but not least, by a 
familiar acquaintance with the names of its mem- 
bers and the States which they represented. It 
was this knowledge, joined with his experience as 



150 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the presiding officer of both Houses of the Legis- 
lature of his native State, and his accurate ac- 
quaintance with parliamentary rules, that enabled 
him with so quiet demeanor to assume the duties 
of his office on his inauguration. At once the 
Senate was compelled to realize that he was a 
master in the situation, however limited might be 
the power he could exercise. He commanded 
respect from the outset, quickly disarmed preju- 
dice, and speedily won regard. 

No member of the Senate was more faithful in 
attendance on its sessions, or in attention to the 
speeches made by the members than was the Vice- 
President. He was spoken of as "the chronic 
audience, who listened with respect when few 
even of the members were present. Unless he is 
called out of the Chamber on some important 
business in his office, he sits in the chair from the 
blind chaplain's prayer at noon until whatever 
time the Senate adjourns." He prepared himself 
for the work of each day by reading with care the 
journal of the previous day, and was thus able 
to advance without delay the question under dis- 
cussion. He never failed to recognize correctly 
a member who addressed the Senate. He im- 
mediately adopted the habit of ruling from the 
chair on points of order without reference to the 
Senate, as had been the custom. With genuine 
courtesy, unfailing tact, perfect fairness, and strict 
attention to the matter in hand, he greatly facili- 
tated the transaction of business, and diffused a 



Mr. Hobart as Vice-President 151 

feeling of good will among the members. Thus 
in a fair and honest way, while never acting as a 
partisan, he became a political factor. No man 
was ever better adapted to the difficult task of 
smoothing asperities, composing differences, sooth- 
ing wounded feelings, and readjusting strained 
relations. 

It was not in his nature to hold mere formal 
intercourse with those with whom he had to do, 
and the friendly feeling in his heart awakened in 
others a friendly feeling. He proved in experi- 
ence the Biblical law of friendship: "He that 
would have friends must show himself friendly." 
This feeling naturally with him found expression 
in hospitality. His heart and home were open 
to all, and it was more from friendship than 
policy that more than once he invited the Senate 
to be his guests. The one note common in all 
the utterances in the Senate, and in the House as 
well, on the formal occasion of the memorial 
sessions of the Senate and House after his death, 
is expressed in the words repeated over and over 
again: "He was my friend." From the speeches 
made in the memorial service in the Senate, it is 
difficult to select an example as an illustration, for 
all express the same warmth of personal feeling. 
From the remarks of Senator Lodge these words 
are taken: "As presiding officer of the Senate he 
fulfilled carefully and thoroughly every duty of 
the place. He abandoned once for all the bad 
habit which had grown up, of submitting nearly 



152 Garret Augustus Hobart 

every question of order to the Senate, and ruled 
promptly on all these points, as every presiding 
officer ought to do. In these ways he steadily 
elevated the Vice- Presidency in the estimation 
of the people, and made the office what the 
framers of the Constitution intended it to be." 
The prevalent feeling of the nation, that the 
Senate in the previous session had sacrificed im- 
portant business interests to an excessive courtesy 
to its members in an unreasonable extension of the 
privileges of debate, had found expression in his 
inaugural address. His personal views in this 
matter were frankly indicated, and his purpose, 
as far as he had power, declared. The newspapers 
of the day hailed these words as the beginning of 
a movement to change the rules and customs of 
the Senate. Many, perhaps most of the Senators, 
apprehended an attack on their time-honored 
customs. But while as a practical man, whose 
decisions were no sooner reached than they 
began to be put in practice, he saw the evil, he 
had no desire, in order to reform it, to be a dictator 
or even an innovator. His views he expressed 
with frankness, but he had no intention to seek 
to enforce them against the judgment of the Sen- 
ate. He would do what he could by example and 
practice to facilitate in a reasonable way the 
transaction of business, but he had no intention 
to usurp the prerogatives of the Senate, or to claim 
powers not given to him by the Constitution. He 
replied to the often repeated question as to what 



Mr. Hobart as Vice-President 153 

he was going to do to obtain speedy action on 
the tariff bill: "The tariff bill will be passed by 
the Senate in orderly procedure. There will be 
no attempt, so far as I am concerned, to break 
down the customs and precedents of the Senate. 
I am frank to say I do not believe the tariff bill 
will be passed as soon as I would like it to be, 
but this will have no influence on my action. I 
hope after the bill has passed there will be some 
reform." No change was made by the Senate in 
its rules or customs, but his views and his actions, 
his regular presence, his quick decisions and con- 
stant attention to the stages of each bill, made a 
perceptible change in the unduly prolonged de- 
liberations of that body. 

Two instances of the way in which Mr. Hobart, 
in the strict line of his official duty, advanced the 
action of the Senate are given in the newspapers 
of that day. The Washington Post furnishes an 
illustration in these words: "The Vice-President 
has saved hours and hours of debate and delay 
by his quick perception and comprehensive know- 
ledge. He keeps tab on everything. ' Has para- 
graph 432 been disposed of?' asked Mr. Allison. 
'It was disposed of on the 28th instant,' replied 
the Vice-President. On another occasion Mr. 
Hobart knew the time exactly,— nearly three 
weeks previous — upon which another schedule 
had been acted on. He remembers who asks 
postponements of one paragraph or another, and 
can correctly state in the most concise fashion 



154 Garret Augustus Hobart 

any question, no matter how intricate. The 
most remarkable instance, however, was shown in 
an incident which happened recently. 'Will the 
Senator,' said Mr. Mills, addressing Senator Quay, 
' refer me to the particular paragraph about cattle 
in the present law?' ' Paragraph 373 of the Wil- 
son law,' responded the Vice- President without 
a moment's hesitation. By such alertness and 
ready acquaintance with the business in hand, the 
Vice-President has kept the debate as well in 
hand as any one could under the rules of the Sen- 
ate, and has shown how a business man's mind 
can adapt itself to new circumstances with great 
success." " It cannot be denied," said the Pater- 
son Call, "that under his Presidency, the Senate 
has been more businesslike than at any time 
during many years past." In the same strain 
the Boston Herald said: "The most singular 
feature of all about his office is in the contrast — the 
insignificance of it in nominal operation, and the 
importance it may assume. It is a comfort to 
feel in view of the latter that we have so good a 
man as Mr. Hobart in the place." 

It soon became evident that the Vice-President 
and the Senate were on the best of terms, and 
with increasing acquaintance these terms became 
more personal and cordial. The strong regard 
which grew up between its President and each 
member of the Senate is shown by an incident 
which occurred at one of the receptions given by 
Mrs. Hobart. Senator Bate, of Tennessee, one 



Mr. Hobart as Vice-President 155 

of the oldest of the Senators, appeared at this 
reception after a laborious session occupied with 
the discussion of a bill in which he had a strong 
interest. Mrs. Hobart expressed her special grati- 
fication at his presence after the weary work of 
the day. "You will be more surprised," he re- 
plied, "when I tell you I voted to-day contrary to 
my intentions. I knew your husband felt a deep 
interest in the matter, and I could not bring my- 
self to vote against his wishes." This incident 
shows more than the influence which the Vice- 
President had gained in the Senate. It shows 
the knowledge and helpful tact of a wife who 
kept even pace with the life and work of her 
husband. 

The impression of the personal influence of Mr. 
Hobart upon the Senate found expression in the 
utterances of those of its members who spoke at 
the memorial services of that body after his death. 
Senator Davis, of Minnesota, said in his eulogy: 
" I do not think that any predecessor of Mr. Ho- 
bart ever exercised on public affairs that marked 
and persistent and beneficial influence that he 
did. We felt, irrespective of party, that our 
deliberations were being guided by a serene, just, 
and impartial intelligence which we now miss so 
greatly, because it is gone forever." On the 
same occasion, Senator John T. Morgan, of Ala- 
bama, said: "I have never heard a criticism or 
ill-natured remark made about Garret A. Hobart 
while he was Vice-President." And to quote 



156 Garret Augustus Hobart 

again from Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts: 
"Mr. Hobart demonstrated to all men the great- 
ness and importance of his office, and has shown 
that it ought to be one of the greatest prizes of 
political life, to be desired by our most ambitious 
men; and regarded not only for its intrinsic im- 
portance, but as a stepping stone to higher honors. 
That a man in two years could do this is the 
strongest evidence of an unusual force of charac- 
ter, and of abilities of no common order." There 
can be little question that had he lived until 
another Presidential election, the same ticket 
would have been put in nomination by the Re- 
publican party, and would have been elected. 

The popular impression of the Vice-President 
finds expression in the words of a correspondent 
at Washington: "Vice-President Hobart has cap- 
tivated the Senate, and the Senate appears to 
have captivated him. His business-like advice 
and warning intimations rather nettled many of 
the Senators and partly prejudiced them against 
their presiding officer, but they know him better 
now." And it may be added that the better they 
knew him, the more highly did they regard him. 
One who was competent to speak on the subject 
said: "No Vice-President has had the rules of 
the Senate more at his fingers' ends, or shown a 
greater familiarity with parliamentary law since 
the days of John C. Calhoun." In his office, as 
everywhere, he won the hearts of men, while he 
commanded their respect. The social relations 



Mr. Hobart as Vice-President 157 

established by the hospitality of Mr. Hobart 
introduced into the official relations between him 
and the Senate the element of friendship. 

The national recognition of the Vice-President's 
qualities increased the admiration of the citizens 
of his native State. An honest pride was felt by 
all Jerseymen in the position gained by a fellow 
citizen, whose worth each already had recognized. 
Twice before, in the persons of Theodore Freling- 
huysen and William L. Dayton, their hopes to see 
one of their citizens placed in the Vice-Presi- 
dential chair had been disappointed. Samuel L. 
Southard had indeed been elected to preside over 
the Senate, but he was not Vice-President, for 
that office was made vacant when in 1841 Vice- 
President Tyler succeeded to the Presidency on 
the death of William Henry Harrison. It was 
then with special gratification that the citizens 
of New Jersey saw one of their number occupying 
the office of Vice-President, with general recog- 
nition of his honorable influence and exalted 
character. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Addresses to the Senate — Personal Expres- 
sions on the Character and Scope of 
the Senate 

IN this chapter will be found the complimentary 
resolution presented to Mr. Hobart at the 
close of the session of the Senate on March 
3, 1899, and his address on the following day 
before declaring the Senate adjourned; an address 
to the Senate in 1897, and extracts taken from 
papers, mostly in his own handwriting, in which 
he gives his impressions of the functions of the 
Senate and the character of its members. It can- 
not be without interest to read in his own words 
the views of one, who, from his official connection 
with this body and intimate friendship with its 
members, was so competent to judge of the sphere 
and worth of this important part of the national 
government. 

Senator Cockrell on the 3d of March, 1899, 
when Senator Gallinger was in the chair, offered 
the following complimentary resolution, which 
was considered by unanimous consent and unani- 
mously agreed to: "Resolved, that the thanks of 
the Senate are hereby tendered to the Honorable 
158 



Addresses to the Senate 159 

Garret A. Hobart, Vice-President, for the digni- 
fied, impartial, and courteous manner with which 
he has presided over its deliberations during 
the present session." 

On the following day, before declaring the 
Senate adjourned, Mr. Hobart addressed the 
members in these words: 

Senators: In a few moments the 55th Congress will 
pass into history. It has been a Congress distinguished 
beyond most other Congresses for remarkable achieve- 
ments. During its life, unlike any other session in the 
history of our country, this Congress has witnessed the 
inception, prosecution, and conclusion of a war with a 
foreign power, undertaken in the interest of humanity, 
and conspicuous for the brilliant deeds of the army and 
the navy, by whose valor an imperial domain has been 
added to our possessions and millions of people to our 
population. 

But not only has this Congress been a war Congress, it 
will always be memorable as a Congress of peace; and in 
securing it this body has exercised its Constitutional 
function, as a part of the treaty and peace-making power, 
in a way to command the approval of the country. 

These facts alone would have made this Congress eminent 
in the long line of our national legislatures; but for other 
acts and results, not to be enumerated at this time, the 
55th Congress has likewise been notable; and now, its 
Constitutional life ended, it becomes a part of our national 
history, and leaves to its successors for settlement many 
problems that will be perplexing, important, and of the 
very highest concern to our people. 

We feel confident, however, and the American people 
may well feel assured, that future Congresses will meet 
these grave questions with wisdom and patriotism, and 



160 Garret Augustus Hobart 

solve them soundly and righteously. To doubt it is to 
doubt the true American spirit, and to lack confidence in 
the strength of our political institutions. I have faith in 
both. 

The hour of adjournment is now at hand. For the un- 
failing courtesy and unvarying cordiality, which have 
characterized the attitude of the Senate towards me as 
its presiding officer, I am profoundly grateful, and I can- 
not let this opportunity pass without this public expression 
of my deep appreciation of kindness received at the hands 
of each member of the body; and particularly I cannot 
close the Senate without recognition of the efficient serv- 
ices of the officers and reporters of this body, whose 
efforts have been so faithful, and whose duties have been 
so courteously and diligently performed. 

For the Senators who remain, and for the Senators who 
retire from this body, I desire to convey my thanks for 
the kindly sentiments expressed in the resolutions just 
adopted ; and it only remains for me now, in the exercise of 
the duty devolving upon me, to declare that the Senate 
stands adjourned without day. 

At the close of the session in which action was 
taken by the Senate upon the tariff bill, Mr. Ho- 
bart, in an address made in response to a toast 
on a public occasion, referred to his inaugural 
address and to the work of the Senate in these 
words : 

On the fourth of March last, when for the first time I 
addressed the Senate of the United States, I expressed the 
belief that "the reasonable expedition of the business of the 
Senate is the hope of the country, and that all the interests 
of good government, and the advancement toward a higher 
and better condition of things call for prompt and positive 



Addresses to the Senate 161 

legislation at the hands of the members of the Senate." 
That remark was made in all innocence, but I soon dis- 
covered that the Senate's definition of "reasonable ex- 
pedition" differed very much from my own conception of 
the meaning of that phrase. But, even if some of us were 
disposed to regret that relief could not be provided at an 
earlier date, I am sure we can all unite in congratulating 
the country upon the passage and signing of a tariff law, 
which has already induced a return to partial prosperity, 
and which gives abundant promise of a full and complete 
return to the happy industrial and economic conditions 
which prevailed under previous Republican Administra- 
tions. 

The "expediency," which was heralded as the hope of the 
country has finally come, but it has come through no effort 
of mine, and through no improvement of the rules of the 
Senate. For this achievement the nation owes a debt of 
gratitude to the loyal and patriotic Republican members 
of the Senate and House, who have labored without 
ceasing to promote the public welfare, and whose efforts 
have resulted in '.he enactment of a tariff law which 
gives ample protection to American industries and extended 
employment to American workingmen. For the very es- 
sence and character of the law is American, and there is 
not one alien feature in it. 

But other influences were also at work in the passage 
of this measure, and I should be unfair to a large group of 
men if I omitted to state that one factor in the enactment 
of the tariff law of 1897 has been the forbearance of the 
Democrats and Populists and others who are in opposition 
to the Republican party. They refrained from abusing 
the rules of the Senate in order to defeat tariff legislation, 
and they displayed a commendable spirit of concession. 

The great tariff measure is now written among the 
statutes of our country. Every channel and avenue of 
trade is already feeling the beneficial influences of its 



1 62 Garret Augustus Hobart 

provisions. The cloud of depression and distrust, which 
has enveloped our country, is gradually rolling away, and 
there is every indication of a revival of industry and a 
return of prosperity. Those, who a few months ago pre- 
dicted wide -spread calamity, will see, if they have not 
already seen, the folly of their predictions. 

The socialist will find that he must work before the 
goods or the wealth of others will be distributed, so that he 
can get his portion of them, for there are no industrial 
rewards for the idle. He will learn that the saved money 
of the thrifty is not his, and cannot be his, except as the 
result of honorable toil. When that time comes, and 
when the discontented and dissatisfied learn these funda- 
mental truths and are willing to be guided by them, 
we shall have made a great step in advance towards the 
solution of the economic problems that are pressing for 
settlement. 

At a considerable length, the question of the 
currency was presented and action urged, and 
the address closes with these words: 

In the accomplishment of these objects a factor of no 
inconsiderable importance will be the Senate of the United 
States, over which the people have summoned me to pre- 
side, and in whose honor you have set aside a toast. The 
Senate of the United States is a peculiar body, certainly 
peculiar in itself and distinct from any other parliamentary 
and legislative body in the world. It is made up, as you 
lenow of many elements, and in its membership you will 
find not only straight and stalwart Republicans, to whose 
.active efforts the country is now looking for relief, but 
Bimetallists, Populists, Silverites — both Republican and 
Democratic — and a few gold Democrats, who are at one 
on all other questions save the financial one with the mem- 
bers of their party. Naturally, there is a wide divergence 



Addresses to the Senate 163 

of views in a body so composed. But however much these 
men may differ in creed and opinion, in theory and prac- 
tice, in their views on the broad questions, which divide 
and ever will divide men into parties and factions, a study 
of four months has enabled me to see clearly that there is 
one common ground on which they all stand, one point 
from which they have the same outlook, one centre from 
which all their views and opinions radiate, one impulse 
and one motive which is common to them all; that each 
and every one of them is a loyal and patriotic American 
citizen, loving his country, proud of its history, zealous 
for its Constitution and devoted to its flag. In this 
one common unifying sentiment which animates the 
United States Senate, there is no North, no South, no 
East, no West, however sectional opinions and desires 
may color their thoughts or direct their actions on other 
questions. 

From a study of each of these men, under circumstances 
that give a peculiar advantage, I have been enabled to 
see how thoroughly representative in its character is the 
Senate of the United States; for I have observed how 
closely the Senators reflect the wishes and desires of their 
constituents, and how their demonstrations and mani- 
festations of loyalty to country and flag are, after all, merely 
a reproduction of the thoughts and convictions of the 
people who have sent them to the National Legislature. 
I am convinced that the Senators represent the desires 
of their constituents in a way hardly possible under any 
other form of government. That being so, one other in- 
evitable conclusion has forced itself upon my mind, and that 
is this — that as long as we have in the Senate, such men, 
representative as they are, loyal, devoted to the public 
service, and patriotic to the core, such institutions, such 
convictions, and such sentiments will last not a decade, 
not ten decades, but for all time, never to perish from the 
earth. 



1 64 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Mr. Hobart's views of the Senate were expressed 
on another occasion: 

Although not a member of the Senate, I have, as you 
know, an intimate official and personal connection with 
that body, and know something of its membership and 
methods. Although constitutionally I am the President 
of the Senate, it is a pleasure to add that my relations 
with the Senators have passed beyond the purely formal 
limit of official intercourse, and have developed into asso- 
ciations of friendship and intimacy with many of those 
who make up this remarkable body. 

I say "remarkable," because the Senate is a remarkable 
body of men, remarkable for many reasons and in many 
ways. Parties may come and go; the lower branch of 
Congress is continually changing; administrations flourish 
and fade into history; Cabinets dissolve when the natural 
limit of their life has been reached ; but the Senate goes on 
forever, a permanent fixed quantity, and in its permanency, 
solidity, and conservatism a striking evidence of the genius, 
of the great men who made our Constitution. It stands 
to-day the sine qua non of legislation, exercising its great 
functions of law-making and of executive prerogatives, 
and, if occasion arises, of judicial powers, just as it exercised 
them over one hundred years ago. 

Aside from its innate Constitutional strength, the 
membership of the Senate is the factor which gives it its 
vast power and its tremendous influence. Here year 
after year, decade after decade, we have a group of picked 
men from the States of the Union. Its older members 
have represented their States so long, that its membership 
now seems a part of the very history of each State. The 
younger men are preparing for the larger fame which time 
and opportunity may give them. 

Here the smallest State is as powerful as the largest 
Commonwealth, and that ratio of equality, which gives to 



Addresses to the Senate 165 

each State two Senators, has never been and never will be, 
disturbed. In this way the Senators have been indelibly 
associated in the public mind with their own State; and 
just as Webster and Clay and Calhoun stood for Massa- 
chusetts and Kentucky and South Carolina, so no one 
can sever Maine in his mind from the Senators who repre- 
sent it, Hale and Frye; or Massachusetts from Hoar and 
Lodge; or Vermont from the veteran Morrill and Proctor; 
or Missouri from West and Cockrell; or Alabama from 
Morgan. 

I have said something about the men of the Senate, but 
reference to the Senate would be incomplete unless some- 
thing was said about its methods. Perhaps no legislative 
body in the world is so constituted in the way of doing 
business as the Senate. Here we have a body in which 
debate is for all practical purposes unlimited, and in which 
the minority has every bit as much privilege, and almost 
as much power, as the majority. I was never so surprised, 
as I was when, during the first days of my occupancy of 
the chair, I began to ask for votes and to take them in the 
open Senate. When at first I heard a solitary "aye" I was 
in doubt, but later I had abundant opportunity to observe 
that bills — many of them — are passed without a single 
affirmative or negative vote. The ends of legislation are 
accomplished by "common consent," by the rule "without 
objection." 

The reason for this is clear, for most of the calendar is 
made up of those bills, where work has been done — fully, 
accurately, and completely done — in committees. There 
the real substantial work of the Senate is done, and if one 
seeks for a key to the Senate's method of transacting public 
business, he will find it in the committee room, and in 
our system of legislation by committee. 

One other fact has forcibly impressed itself upon my mind 
during an observation covering many months, and it has 
taken the form of a conviction, that the Senate is beyond 



1 66 Garret Augustus Hobart 

all other things a patriotic body. However much the 
members may differ from each other on political, financial, 
and economic questions, they are all loyal patriotic Ameri- 
can citizens, loving their country, mindful of its traditions, 
proud of its institutions and its history, and devoted, 
heart and soul, to its Stars and Stripes. While such feelings 
of profound patriotism animate the Senate, we need have 
no fear that the real and permanent interests of our nation 
will suffer! And if ever the time shall come when the 
patriotic heart of the United States shall be aroused in a 
common cause, calling for open demonstrations of loyalty 
to the flag, the country will find no more loyal or patriotic 
men than the Senators from the North, South, East, and 
West who represent the forty-five States of our Union. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
The President and the Vice-President 

IT may be said with hardly an exception that 
from the beginning of our national history to 
the period of the McKinley administration, 
the two official persons who had least to do with 
each other in the political and social life of the 
Capitol were the President and the Vice-President. 
Neither official duties, nor social functions neces- 
sarily brought them together. In many instances 
they were strangers to each other when they took 
their respective offices, and they were equally 
strangers when their terms of office expired. Such 
an unfortunate and unreasonable condition did 
not exist in the new administration. The Presi- 
dent and Vice-President were in perfect accord 
and in intimate friendship. 

Mr. McKinley and Mr. Hobart had only a 
slight acquaintance with each other before they 
met in Washington to enter on the duties of their 
high offices. They were unlike in temperament 
and in habits of thought and action; they had 
been trained in different schools of experience; 
their political views had not been in complete 
agreement; and it seemed entirely probable that 
167 



1 68 Garret Augustus Hobart 

their official intercourse would be only formal and 
perfunctory. But while they differed from each 
other, each one possessed a warm heart capable 
of friendship, and an open mind joined with a 
strict sense of duty. Each one recognized the 
worth and sincerity of the other, and realized the 
importance and assistance to be gained from 
mutual intercourse and support. The President 
saw in the Vice-President a man whose training 
and experience made him a wise counsellor, and 
whose sense of honor would prevent him from 
becoming a rival. The Vice-President saw in 
the President a man whose purpose was sincere 
to do right and serve his country, and to whom 
he could give and ought to give loyal support. 
On the basis of respect and confidence a sincere 
and cordial friendship was established between 
the two, which increased in strength to the end. 
The administration, like the ticket, was " McKinley 
and Hobart." Unless an exception should be 
made of John Hay, who was recalled from the 
embassy in England to become Secretary of 
State, no one knew more of the policy of the ad- 
ministration, or exerted a greater influence with 
the President than Mr. Hobart. They were both 
friends and confederates. So certain was the 
President of the loyalty and good judgment of 
his colleague, that the latter was consulted in all 
questions of general policy. This relation, at 
once so influential and so delicate, was never 
weakened by interference unasked, or selfish use 



The President and the Vice-President 169 

of his influence on the part of the one thus honored. 
It may be safely said that no measure of impor- 
tance was discussed with the Cabinet of which 
the Vice-President was not cognizant; and that 
members of the Cabinet, as well as the President, 
freely took counsel with him. The unusual title 
given him in some of the papers in recognition of 
his influence was "Assistant President." 

This intimate and useful relation could hardly 
have existed had the residence of the Vice-Presi- 
dent been in a part of the city distant from the 
White House. Frequent and informal intercourse 
could only exist under close proximity of residence. 
This made possible also what was an important 
factor in the case — the intimate acquaintance and 
affectionate relation established between Mrs. 
McKinley and Mrs. Hobart. Mrs. McKinley had 
been an invalid for years, and while not kept out 
of social life altogether, had been largely dependent 
on the care and society of her husband. The 
devoted attentions given for years to his invalid 
wife were necessarily interrupted by the constant 
demands of public duties. The situation awak- 
ened the sympathy of Mrs. Hobart. She sought 
by her presence and cheerful words to relieve the 
tedium of weary hours, and to support the invalid 
in the functions which required her presence. 
With tact and efficiency the needed help was given. 
For this assistance the President was deeply grate- 
ful, and often expressed his thanks for the relief 
from anxiety which this care afforded him. The 



170 Garret Augustus Hobart 

two families lived on terms of cordial intimacy. 
The doors of the White House always opened to the 
family of the Vice-President, and scarcely a day 
passed without some intercourse between the two 
families. Even when Congress was not in session 
the intercourse was kept up. Repeatedly the 
President and Mrs. McKinley visited Mrs. Hobart 
in Paterson, and more than once they spent part 
of their vacation together at Bluff Point on Lake 
Champlain. In the public mind Mr. Hobart 
became associated with the administration. 

An indication of the attention of the public 
mind to this unusual intimacy appeared in the 
newspaper criticism of the fact that the President 
and Vice-President travelled to New York to 
attend the dedication of the memorial tomb of 
General Grant on different trains and by different 
roads. The fact was regarded as an evidence of 
changed feelings and relations. In reality it was 
an act of prudence to guard the interests of the 
country, and prevent the confusion and injury 
which an accident fatal to both would have caused. 
It was on this occasion, as will be told later, the 
President exhibited in the most public and marked 
manner his regard for the person, and respect 
for the office of the Vice-President. 

The sturdy loyalty of the Vice-President was 
proved at a serious moment, when the national 
excitement was roused to such an extent over 
the conditions in Cuba that war with Spain be- 
came inevitable. To reduce to submission the 



The President and the Vice-President 171 

insurgents in Cuba, the most cruel and desperate 
measures had been adopted by the Spanish author- 
ities, which were ruthlessly carried out by the 
notorious General Weyler. The rage of vengeance 
led the army of Spain not only to the slaughter of 
those taken with arms, but to the most inhuman 
treatment of women and children. For a long 
period the United States had suffered much in 
trade from the disturbed conditions of that 
island, and its unsanitary condition was a constant 
menace to this land. Exasperation had deepened 
into indignation before the cries of the starving 
men and women and children in the loathsome 
camps of refugees, where they were confined like 
cattle, were heard appealing to this nation for 
help. The country chafed at the thought that 
such things were occurring at its very doors, and 
discussed the question of interference for hu- 
manity's sake. In the newspapers, in public as- 
semblies called to consider these conditions, in 
legislative halls and in Congress the question of 
governmental interference, even by arms, was 
advocated. The news of the destruction of the 
battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana came to 
the excited feelings of the American people like 
a flash of lightning in a powder magazine. Many 
of the officers and most of its crew were instantly 
killed and entombed in the sinking wreck. Neces- 
sarily the first feeling was that the vessel had 
been destroyed by a submarine mine, with the 
connivance, if not the assistance, of the Spanish 



172 Garret Augustus Hobart 



& 



authorities, and an investigation, made by the 
United States Government, decided that the 
battleship had been sunk by an exterior explo- 
sion, but did not fix the responsibility on the 
Spanish authorities. The whole nation was 
moved as one man with pity for the dead, sym- 
pathy for the bereaved, horror for the deed, and 
a sense of injury which demanded reparation. 

While with unanimous voice the country cried 
for some adequate action, and many for an instant 
declaration of war — and this cry was echoed even 
in the Senate — the President retained his com- 
posure, and made no expression of his feelings 
beyond sympathy with those who had been be- 
reaved, and a purpose to investigate the cause of 
the terrible loss of life and national injury. Even 
when called to take summary action by legisla- 
tures, and by voices in both Houses of Congress 
he did not respond. He had been a soldier, and 
he knew the horrors of war. More than this, he 
knew the country was not prepared for a conflict 
even with a weak power. The harbors on the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts were practically de- 
fenceless; without sufficient men, without an 
adequate supply of powder, without modern 
guns, and without forts capable of resistance. The 
condition of the Pacific Coast was clearly indi- 
cated by the command issued by the Government 
to Admiral Dewey to find and destroy the Spanish 
fleet in the waters of that ocean. The nation 
was not prepared to defend its own coasts. Our 



The President and the Vice-President 173 

arsenals contained various styles of weapons, 
insufficient in number and all of them more or 
less out of date. The army was small and scat- 
tered. The whole supply of powder in the country 
was inadequate for more than a battle. Well 
might the President hesitate to speak the fateful 
word, which would involve the country in a 
conflict, even with a power like Spain. When 
war had been declared, and the possibility of an 
attack on the cities of our sea coasts was realized, 
those who had clamored most loudly for war, 
were now crying even more insistently for pro- 
tection. But defences cannot be created in a 
night. If nations can learn lessons, this nation 
was taught the lesson of preparation for condi- 
tions which may arise suddenly. 

At this time of excited feeling demanding in- 
stant action, Mr. Hobart showed his personal in- 
terest in the President's popularity and influence. 
He had been accustomed to gauge public opinion, 
and he realized that the time had come when the 
President must act in conformity with the feelings 
of the people or lose his control over his own 
party. He determined to present his convictions 
to the President. That the conversation might 
not be interrupted, he invited the President to 
drive with him. He laid before Mr. McKinley 
the facts of the case as he viewed them, and urged 
him to forestall any action by the Senate to de- 
clare war against Spain. Finally he said: "Mr. 
President I can no longer hold back action by 



174 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the Senate; they will act without you if you do 
not act at once." The President had listened 
for a long time in silence, but at the mention of 
the Senate's independent action he spoke: "Do 
you mean the Senate will declare war on its own 
motion?" "I certainly do. I can hold them 
back no longer," was the reply. "Say no more," 
the President answered. The rest of the drive 
was taken in unbroken silence. But the message 
which the nation desired, and which led to the 
outbreak of hostilities came to Congress in a few 
days, and war was declared. Congress showed 
how consonant this action was with its feelings, 
and its implicit confidence in the wisdom and 
integrity of the President by placing in his hands 
$50,000,000 to be used at his discretion. The 
final action of the Senate, affirming the words of 
the President, was taken after a long session 
lasting far into the night. It was four o'clock 
in the morning when Mr. Hobart reached his 
home, too tired to sleep. At six o'clock martial 
music and the tramp of horses drew him to 
the window. There he saw the Sixth Regiment 
of Cavalry, fully equipped, already passing to the 
station to be entrained for the South. Referring 
at a later period to the interview which seemed 
to lead to a decision in the mind of the President, 
Mr. McKinley said: "Some day I am going to 
write a book, and I will put all that in it." 

This warm personal interest in the President 
led the Vice-President to seek to put the President 



The President and the Vice-President 175 

on good terms with the Senate. Questions had 
arisen out of the results of the war on which there 
was a diversity of opinion, and the relations 
between the President and the Senate had been 
strained. To allay irritated feelings and estab- 
lish friendly relations, Mr. Hobart invited the 
President to meet the Senate socially at his house. 
Such an occasion was an innovation, but it was a 
happy thought and had a pleasant ending. The 
Senators were entertained during the evening at 
several small tables, and the President was taken 
from one table to another, and thus met individu- 
ally the whole body. The genial nature of the 
host and the social feeling of the occasion dis- 
solved all differences, and brought the President 
and the Senate into harmonious relations. One 
of the Senators said on departing: "Mr. Vice- 
President, give us another such an entertainment, 
and we will do anything you wish." With regard 
to this occasion the Washington Post said: "The 
accomplished and painstaking host was really the 
one who made everything so delightful, who made 
everybody have such an old-fashioned good time." 
Nothing can more clearly show the affectionate 
regard existing between the persons and the 
families of the President and the Vice-President 
than the letters with which this chapter is con- 
cluded. Most of them belong to the period of 
Mr. Hobart 's illness and death, when the real 
feelings of the President would naturally find 
their warmest expression. 



176 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Executive Mansion, 
September 16, 1899. 
Dear Mr. Vice-President: 

We have been home a week and one day, and have heard 
only once from you. We would like to hear every day 
that we may know just how you are. 

We are alone to-night sitting at the end of the hall, 
where you and Mrs. Hobart have so many times found us 
and added to our pleasure by your presence. How we 
wish you were with us to-night! 

I started to write about the Dewey reception. He 
will be here on the second, when the greeting is to com- 
mence, and will continue through the next day. It is 
my purpose to give him a gentlemen's dinner on the 3rd. 
Now what Mrs. McKinley and I want above all else is that 
you and Mrs. Hobart and Junior with your man-servant 
and maid-servant shall come here on the Saturday preceding, 
Sept. 30, and remain with us through the functions. We 
expect to leave here for the West on the 5th of October. 
I can imagine no place where you will be more comfortable 
than here. We shall have no guests in the house, and 
therefore, plenty of room, and no company to distract. 
We can have a good visit together. It will do you good I 
am sure, and Mrs. McKinley and myself will be made happy. 
We want you to be our guests at the White House, and 
there is no time so opportune in every way, as the one 
proposed. The functions will be simple. The most 
you need do is to be present at the presentation of 
the sword at the Capitol, voted by Congress. Our 
dinner you could shorten according to your comfort and 
pleasure. 

Mrs. McKinley joins in love to you, Mrs. Hobart and 
Junior. Hoping for an early reply, which will advise us 
of your acceptance, 

Very faithfully yours, 

William McKinley. 



The President and the Vice-President 177 

To this letter it is evident that Mrs. Hobart 
replied declining the invitation on the ground of 
Mr. Hobart's illness. The President answered: 

Executive Mansion, 
September 17, 1899. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

Your letter filled us with regret. We had counted so 
much on your visit, and do not yet give it up. Our 
thoughts are with you all the while, and we do not allow 
ourselves to believe that the Vice-President will not regain 
his health. I have been so distressed by the latest news, 
that I have felt like coming at once, though conscious 
there is nothing I can do for his comfort and pleasure. 
You have our heartfelt sympathy and earnest prayers. 

You have shown such high courage that I pray it may 
be rewarded in the early improvement of the Vice-Presi- 
dent. Mrs. McKinley is not getting on very well. I am 
having a New York doctor here next Thursday for consul- 
tation. Give my love to Mr. Hobart and Junior, and 
believe me always, 

Faithfully yours, 

William McKinley. 

Another letter from the President, written 
about a month later, is as follows: 

Executive Mansion, 
October 21, 1899. 
My dear Mr. Hobart: 

You will be interested to know that our trip was an 
interesting one. I had never been to the Dakotas. It is 
a wonderful country, and the people are of the best. 
They did my heart good. They are for the flag and coun- 
try. Nothing has ever touched me more than that in 
your sick chamber you wanted Mrs. Hobart to read my 



178 Garret Augustus Hobart 

speeches made on the journey. I tried to say the right 
thing and hope my words have your approval. 

My thoughts are on you daily, and my heart with you 
all the time. I pray God to give you back your health. 
Is there anything I can do for you? If so do not hesitate 
to say the word. Will come to you any moment you may 
wish. Mrs. McKinley sends love to you, Mrs. Hobart, and 
Junior, in which I join with all my heart. 

Your faithful friend, 

William McKinley. 

In a postscript to a letter dated December 5, 
1900, the President writes to Mrs. Hobart: "I 
want to thank you for your kindness to Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley when she was in New York, which must 
have been at some inconvenience to you. You 
made her very happy, and that means you have 
made me both happy and grateful." 

The President and Vice-President returned to 
Washington before Thanksgiving day, 1898, and 
Mr. Hobart with his family was invited to dine 
on that day at the White House. When they 
were seated at the table on that occasion, the 
President looking around the table said: "Is not 
this delightful! Just the President's own." 

As an instance of the patriotic fervor and the 
crude ideas which were aroused by the coming 
war, Richard Mansfield sent to Mr. Hobart a letter, 
in which the actor, " as an old student of diplomatic 
warfare, " gave an outline of a note which Spain 
should address to the United States, admitting 
that the policy in Cuba had not been satisfactory, 
and proposing that the United States assist Spain 



The President and the Vice-President 179 

in bringing "order, peace, and prosperity" to the 
island. Spain, according to Mr. Mansfield's plan, 
would refund to the United States expenses in- 
curred, with a bonus, and would guarantee, by 
a lien on export duties from Cuba, to keep the 
island in the condition which followed American 
intervention. 

Mr. Hobart's reply to this letter has not been 
preserved, but it is evident from this second letter 
from Mr. Mansfield that no encouragement was 
given to this plan: 

Boston, April 22, 1898. 

To His Excellency the Vice-President. 
Sir: 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your very 
gracious letter. 

I fear the war may not be as speedily terminated as we 
hope and as many expect. The Spaniards having nothing 
left to lose, the fight will mean their very existence. 

The destiny of this nation is, however, beyond the control 
of any country. It will win its way always and for many 
centuries. 

I had the honor to point out to the British Minister, W. 
Sackville-West, many years ago, the advantages of an 
Anglo-American alliance, and I called the attention of 
several high officials of the United States to this same 
matter. If such an alliance was to become (even secretly) 
un fait accompli, England and the United States could 
practically dictate terms to the world. England should 
not consent to such an agreement, however, without under- 
standing that the fleet of the United States should be 
made as powerful as that of Great Britain. The United 
States should at once take possession of Hayti. Necessity 



180 Garret Augustus Hobart 

demands this, and it is imperative. No great leader could 
hesitate for one moment. We are able to take care of the 
result, but we shall not be able if we hesitate now. My 
present business engagements will terminate in three weeks, 
and, albeit an Englishman, I beg to offer my services in any 
capacity to the United States. My private car, which is 
in New York, is also at the disposal of the government, 
and would be of service in transporting high officials to 
and fro from Washington to the South. Finally may I 
ask you to forgive the intrusion, and to present my very 
humble respects to Mrs. Hobart, and believe me, Sir, 
*'our very obedient servant, 

Richard Mansfield. 



CHAPTER XIX 
Official Position of the Vice-President 

THE prominent position which Mr. Hobart at 
once filled in the social and official circles of 
Washington raised questions to which no 
importance hitherto had been attached, and which 
indeed, at the first, appealed only to the humor of 
the nation. Later it became evident these ques- 
tions involved principles, and needed to be treated 
with seriousness. His prominence in the society 
of the Capital, his influence with the President, as 
well as the fact that the United States by holding 
dependencies outside its own territory had now 
become a world-power, all combined at this time 
to compel a decision on the official position, in 
public functions, of the Vice-President. It was 
evident that the one who rilled the office at this 
time was more than the titular President of the 
Senate with a reversionary right in the Presidency. 
He was a factor in the social and political life of 
the nation, and his place necessarily had to be 
fixed and recognized. 

As the relations of the United States with other 
nations had become more important and more 
complicated, the duties of representatives on both 

181 



1 82 Garret Augustus Hobart 

sides became more serious and called for the ap- 
pointment of the wisest and most experienced 
diplomatists. In recognition of these new condi- 
tions the British Government had changed the 
character of its representative from a minister 
plenipotentiary to an ambassador, who represented 
not only the nation, but the sovereign in person. 
This example had been followed by France, 
Germany, and Italy. As the personal representa- 
tive of his sovereign, accredited to be "near the 
person of the President," an ambassador can de- 
mand an audience at any time as a right, and on 
public occasions the position which his sovereign 
would fill if present. In monarchical governments 
this place would be immediately following the 
sovereign and the members of the royal family. 
On this ground the British Ambassador claimed 
the right to occupy the place next to the President 
at public ceremonies, and in social affairs to have 
precedence over the Vice-President. 

With the easy indifference of republican views 
and customs, such a question had never been 
seriously considered. Indeed no one had seemed 
to think a Vice-President needed to be recognized 
officially. With the growth of the Capital and 
the consequent increase of social life, and the ap- 
pointment of persons with different powers and 
rank to represent foreign governments, matters 
of etiquette became important. It will be re- 
membered that at the time of the inauguration 
the neglect to show reasonable attention to the 



Official Position of the Vice-President 183 

ministers representing other countries had led to 
confusion and awakened criticism. These condi- 
tions gave prominence to the question of prece- 
dence raised by Sir Julian Pauncefote. It is 
altogether unlikely that there was any doubt in 
his mind that his claim would be allowed. He 
had good reason to expect this, for Richard Olney, 
Secretary of State under President Cleveland, had 
admitted on a public occasion the right of the 
British Ambassador to precede Vice-President 
Stevenson. It was only natural that he should 
expect to receive the same respect under the new 
administration. 

There was no man living who was more in- 
different to titles and ceremonies than Mr. Hobart, 
but no man had a clearer conception of the dignity 
of his office and a firmer purpose to uphold it. 
Though he never personally appeared in the settle- 
ment of the question, and never was quoted in the 
discussion of the matter in the newspapers, there 
is no question as to his own opinions and the 
influence which he exerted on the decision. This 
is made clear in the letter of John Hay with which 
this chapter is closed. 

Sir Julian Pauncefote, after eminent legal service 
in England, in which he had exhibited exceptional 
knowledge of international law, had been appointed 
minister to this country, and the ministry had 
been elevated to an embassy during his term of 
office. His appointment and the elevation of his 
office were largely due to the fact that the govern- 



1 84 Garret Augustus Hobart 

ments of the United States and of Great Britain 
had agreed that the disputed question of the 
boundary line between this country and the 
British possessions in the Northwest should be 
settled by commissioners who were soon to meet in 
Washington. As a gentleman of high character 
and of great legal ability, he was admirably fitted 
for the office. He had become deservedly popular 
in this country. Under these circumstances it 
was natural that he should expect the recognition 
of his claim. No one ever accused him of mere 
personal considerations in the matter. 

Sir Julian, therefore, waited for the new Vice- 
President to make the call of ceremony upon him, 
but Mr. Hobart, by refraining from this recogni- 
tion of an ambassador as occupying a station 
superior to a Vice-President, clearly indicated 
the position which he had assumed. The question 
came up for decision when a reception was given 
by the British Ambassador at the embassy. The 
Vice-President could not be ignored, but no call 
had been made on either side. An invitation to 
this reception, however, was sent from the embassy 
to the Vice-President. To this a reply was given, 
through Mr. Hobart's secretary, acknowledging 
the receipt of the invitation, but expressing the 
idea that it must have been a mistake, as the Vice- 
President had not been recognized by a call. The 
issue became a matter of public knowledge in the 
social life of Washington and aroused great interest. 
As the family of the Vice-President constantly 



Official Position of the Vice-President 185 

appeared in society, and was entertained often- 
times in the same homes as was the British 
Ambassador, the question of precedence had to 
be settled. Wherever on such occasions the ques- 
tion might be raised whether the Vice-President 
would be regarded as the guest of honor, Sir Julian 
made inquiry as to the position to be accorded 
him, and declined the invitation where the pre- 
cedence was not to be given to him. The attitude 
once taken had necessarily to be carried out in all 
cases. It was made a condition of his acceptance 
of an invitation to be present at the dedication of 
the tomb erected in New York to the memory of 
General Grant that he should immediately follow 
the President in all the proceedings. Necessarily 
such a claim must be equally yielded to the other 
ambassadors. The committee having the matter 
in charge, understanding that the direction of the 
President that the Vice-President should ride in 
the carriage with him and be placed beside him in 
all the ceremonies had settled the question of 
precedence, evaded the difficulty by issuing in- 
vitations to the ambassadors, not in their offi- 
cial capacity, but as "distinguished guests. " The 
very marked attention paid to the Vice-President 
by the President during the ceremonies, and at 
the reception given in the evening at the Union 
League Club, even more plainly indicated his 
decision of the question, which now had become 
a matter of general interest and was widely 
discussed in the newspapers. 



1 86 Garret Augustus Hobart 

It is pleasant to record that no personal feeling 
on either side marked the controversy at any time. 
The question was not regarded as a personal mat- 
ter by either of the contestants. They frequently 
met with cordial feelings on common ground, and 
when the question was finally settled their inter- 
course was most friendly. A little comedy, wit- 
nessed by a large number of persons in Washington, 
gave much amusement at the time. Both the 
Vice-President and Sir Julian were invited to at- 
tend a reception and musicale given at the Aus- 
tro- Hungarian legation to commemorate the birth- 
day of Baroness Hengelmiiller von Hengervar. 
These two distinguished guests arrived at the 
same moment and after all the other guests had 
been seated. Two small divans exactly alike had 
been reserved for them in front of all the company. 
They entered the room together with the hostess, 
and a general movement indicated the amused 
interest of the audience at the scene. The result 
was that the British Ambassador and Mrs. Hobart 
were seated together, and the Vice-President and 
Lady Pauncefote. 

The question was finally settled in London, when 
it was intimated to Sir Julian, who was spending a 
few weeks at home during the recess of Congress, 
that the government did not mean to contest 
the point at issue. No formal communications 
on the subject had been made to the British 
Government, but the decision of the President 
was informally presented. On the return of the 



Official Position of the Vice-President 187 

Ambassador, he asked John A. Kasson, one of the 
American members of the Joint High Commission, 
to inform the President that he had made an 
official call on the Vice-President, and to obtain 
from him a formal and final declaration of his 
decision. The President replied, "Make my kind 
regards to Sir Julian, and tell him there has never 
been a question that the Vice-President comes 
after me. " In telling of this interview in the 
family most interested the President said, "I 
settled it quickly," and then, turning to Mrs. 
Hobart, he added, " or rather you settled it when 
you said, ' I thought the ticket elected was McKin- 
ley and Hobart, not McKinley and Pauncefote.' " 

The principle on which the decision was made 
is that the Vice-President is the heir apparent of 
the President. In case of the removal of the 
President by death or Constitutional cause the 
power and duties of the office devolve upon him. 
The question as to the rights of those officials 
who have been placed, by an act of Congress, in 
succession to the Presidency has never been raised. 

The letter of John Hay, to which reference has 
been made, was as follows: 

American Embassy, 
London, December 27, 1897. 
My dear Mr. Vice-President: 

I have your letter of the 18th, and thank you sincerely 
for all your kind words. 

I congratulate you on the peaceful outcome of your 
battle for precedence. I have always heartily approved 



1 88 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the position you assumed, and think it was imposed by a 
proper sense of the dignity of the great office you hold. I 
have never discussed the question with Sir Julian personally, 
though I have made no secret of my views in the matter. 
I should be inclined to think his own good sense on reflec- 
tion had showed him your position was right. 

He is a man of most excellent sense, and a most estimable 
character; and now that this little misunderstanding is at 
an end, I am" sure you will enjoy his acquaintance. 

As the first year of the administration is drawing to a 
close I feel as safe as I am happy in congratulating all of 
you on the splendid promise and solid achievements of the 
year. Especially are all of us to be felicitated who said 
early in the year that Mr. McKinley was the best man in 
America for President. In his strong and resolute hands 
the country is safe, and knows it. 

Mrs. Hay joins me in cordial messages to Mrs. Hobart, 
and I am 

Faithfully yours, 

John Hay. 



CHAPTER XX 
Bereavement 

MR. HOBART'S life at the time when he was 
becoming a national character seemed to 
all who knew him exceptionally fortunate. 
All whom he knew were his friends. All that he 
touched seemed to prosper. He had labored and 
endured hardships in his early life, but he had 
gained success and popularity. He had not known 
the bitterness of unrequited toil, nor had he 
suffered the mean vexation of envy and strife. 
In his successful course he had neither made 
enemies nor alienated friends. Never had his 
friends been so many and devoted ; his life been so 
full and enjoyable; his prospects so bright and 
alluring. He seemed to be exempted from the 
disappointments and sorrows in the common lot 
of others. In this hour of success and security a 
sorrow came upon him so overwhelming that its 
shadows were never lifted, nor his broken heart 
healed. He received a blow from which he never 
recovered, and which undoubtedly hastened his 
death. His only daughter, most dearly loved, 
who had become the joy of that home and a com- 
panion to her parents, was smitten with a deadly 
189 



190 Garret Augustus Hobart 

disease in a foreign land, and died after a brief 
illness. Her body was laid in a lonely grave far 
from kindred and friends. 

As the time approached for another general 
election, knowing from experience that much la- 
bor would be laid on the members of the National 
Committee, and with prescience recognizing that 
his own nomination for Vice-President was at 
least probable, Mr. Hobart decided after a family 
council to take a period of rest and recreation. 
Accordingly a trip to Europe was carefully planned, 
and everything arranged to relieve the travellers 
from care and obtain all possible comfort and en- 
joyment. That no anxiety should be felt for any 
member of the family left behind, all were in- 
cluded in the plan. An intimate friend of the 
daughter was gladly accepted as a member of the 
party. With most cheerful expectations and 
hearty good wishes of a host of friends, they left 
their home. From time to time news came of their 
progress, and the health and enjoyment of the 
party. No one, they least of all, anticipated 
anything except a happy journey and a safe re- 
turn. In this hour of apparent security a cable 
despatch was received at Paterson from Bellagio, 
on Lake Como, saying that the daughter was ill 
with some affection of the throat. Great anxiety 
filled the hearts of friends at home, partly because 
they recognized that the message would not have 
been sent unless the case was serious, and partly 
because thev knew that a chronic weakness of 



Bereavement 191 

the throat in the patient made any affection of 
the kind more dangerous. The first message was 
speedily followed by another, telling that death had 
removed the daughter, and that as soon as possible 
the party would return. The sad news spread 
rapidly through the city, and filled with grief and 
sympathy thousands of hearts. All loved her who 
knew her; all felt for those who suffered a loss 
overwhelming in itself, but made more bitter from 
the circumstances. 

Fannie Beckwith Hobart died from malignant 
diphtheria at Bellagio, on Thursday, June 27, 1895, 
at one o'clock in the afternoon. The party 
reached Venice in the best of spirits at the time 
when the moon was full, and had found it most 
delightful to be on the canals and feel the charm 
of that mysterious city by moonlight. From 
Venice they had gone to Bellagio to spend a few 
days of quiet enjoyment in that beautiful spot. 
They reached there on Saturday about noon. 
Before nightfall a physician was called in to 
prescribe for the daughter for what seemed to be a 
severe sore throat. The case rapidly developed 
alarming symptoms, and both doctors and nurses 
were summoned from Milan. Intercourse with 
them, so important in these circumstances, was 
difficult because none of them spoke English. 
The case grew more serious with every hour, and 
as a last resort antitoxin was administered. It 
was of no avail. The end came quickly, and this 
young and beautiful life passed from earth ; from 



192 Garret Augustus Hobart 

a foreign land to the endless home-land; from 
scenes of earth's loveliness to the world of unending 
glory; from bright prospects of earthly happiness 
to the realities of heavenly joys. In the circum- 
stances a new meaning was given to the words 
of that Book which touches all human experi- 
ence with a benediction, "And in the garden a 
sepulchre. " 

In that place where persons from all lands come 
to seek health and refreshment and carry away 
memories of loveliness and enjoyment, this family 
passed through scenes of bitter anguish, and carried 
away memories which time could not obliterate. 
The sorrows of a lifetime seemed distilled in the cup 
then given them to drink. They were compelled 
that same night, solitary mourners, moving by the 
light of lanterns, to lay the body of one so dear in 
a hastily made grave in foreign soil. No wonder 
Mr. Hobart said, " I cannot imagine one thing left 
out that could add a sorrow to what we were 
called to bear. " Far from home and friends, in a 
hotel where every trace of what was occurring had 
to be hidden, unable to communicate freely with 
doctors or nurses, forced to lay their dead so 
soon in the grave without the presence of a friend, 
they felt the bitterness of grief without the al- 
leviations in ordinary sorrow. 

It can readily be seen the proprietor of a hotel 
filled with travellers from distant lands is placed 
in trying circumstances from such conditions as 
have been described. Had the character of the 



Bereavement 193 

disease and its fatal result been known, there can 
be no question that in a few hours the house would 
have been deserted, and at least for a season have 
been shunned. Every effort was made by the 
proprietor to conceal the facts from the guest's. 
Members of the family were compelled to appear 
at the public table, and were asked to hide their 
anxiety and grief. To no one could a knowledge 
of their circumstances be given, and from no one 
could sympathy be asked. The charges for the 
special services needed and for the furniture in 
the rooms occupied, all of which, it was declared, 
the law required to be burned, were very great. In 
those hours of anguish many things occurred on 
these lines which added to the bitter pain of the 

loss. 

Fannie Beckwith Hobart was loved by all who 
knew her. In her early death the promise of a 
happy and useful life was broken. She had 
grown up in a loving home with every comfort 
and luxury at her command, unselfish, unaffected, 
unspoiled." She was, in truth, a "home-girl," 
whose life and happiness were found in home 
love and home duty. Sweet in disposition, gentle 
in manner, loving and sympathetic in heart, 
simple and cheerful in the faith and practice of 
religion, her brief life was a ministry of love. In 
the comforts and enjoyment of her own happy 
lot her thoughts turned toward others who lacked 
most of the blessings which she possessed. Among 
other duties she had taken upon herself the pleas- 



i94 Garret Augustus Hobart 



c^ 



ant task of providing and distributing the Christ- 
mas gifts at the entertainment given to the children 
in the Paterson Day Nursery. And in her memory, 
as the season of blessed remembrance of the 
lowly birth of the Child of Bethlehem comes 
round, that kindly service continues. A mother's 
love has also erected a memorial building to 
preserve her work and life in an enduring benefit 
for little children and for the useful training of 
young girls. In the hall of the Paterson Memorial 
Day Nursery building, perfect in all its appoint- 
ments, a tablet of bronze, enclosing a likeness of 
the one so sadly lost, tells to all who enter her 
name and kindly ministry. Her brief life was not 
in vain. Though dead, she still speaks. On the 
wall opposite the tablet are these words of dedica- 
tion, expressive of a mother's love and faith: 

I dedicate this building in the name of sacred sorrow. 
In this work resignation and love for the dead and the 
living find expression. In the holy fellowship of bereave- 
ment the way is left lovingly open for others to give aid 
in memory of loved ones departed. 

I dedicate this building in the name of a holy fellowship 
with suffering, burdened humanity. Those, whose burdens 
of toil are rendered insupportable by anxious care for 
helpless unguarded children, can have the assurance that 
their little ones can find here loving care and protection. 

I dedicate this building in the name of sacred love for 
helpless childhood. In this home the little ones will find 
safety from accident and contamination, instruction, en- 
joyment, and provision for their wants. 

I dedicate this house in the name of the common Father 



Bereavement 195 

of us all, whose children we all are, and who teaches us to 
bear one another's burdens. 

I dedicate this building in the name of our Lord and 
Saviour, who came to us as a little child, who took little 
children in His arms, and who said, "of such is the Kingdom 
of Heaven. " 

I dedicate this building in the name of the Holy Com- 
forter, who inspires our hearts with holy purposes, and 
who gives to all in trouble peace and hope. 

Lastly, on this work I invoke through all the years to 
come the divine blessing, and ask the constant sympathy 
and interest of all who are His children, and of all who 
love little children. Amen. 

Hundreds of little children have had reason to 
bless the memory of this dear daughter, and thou- 
sands in years to come will be living memorials 
of her sweet and gentle life. Her home is on high, 
but that life is still a blessing for little children 
for whom she had loved to care in the spirit of Him 
who said: "Suffer them to come. " 

As soon as possible the bereaved parents re- 
turned to the Paterson home, leaving the body in 
the cemetery on the hill-side overlooking Lake 
Como. Under the law of Italy, the bodies of 
those who die from infectious disease cannot be 
moved for a period of five years. Through the 
strong influence which Mr. Hobart was able to 
bring to bear on the Italian authorities, and by 
the efficient aid of Wayne MacVeagh, the Ameri- 
can Ambassador, permission was granted to re- 
move the body in the year following the death. 
A. A. Wilcox, an intimate friend and associate 



196 Garret Augustus Hobart 

of Mr. Hobart, went to Italy for this purpose, and 
with much difficulty accomplished the removal. 
On March 25, 1896, in the home which she loved 
so dearly, and from which she had gone out so 
full of life and hope, simple religious services were 
held in her memory. Her body was buried in the 
family plot in Cedar Lawn Cemetery just outside 
the city of Pater son. After the erection of the 
mausoleum which holds the remains of Mr. Hobart, 
it was removed and placed in that tomb. 



CHAPTER XXI 
The Social Life of the Vice-President 

HIGHLY as Mr. Hobart appreciated the dig- 
nity of his office, and strenuously as he 
upheld it, it was not in his nature, or in 
his good judgment right or wise, to hedge himself 
about with ceremony, or hold himself aloof from 
his fellows. While it certainly was to him a 
pleasure, he recognized it as a duty, to exercise a 
large hospitality. He clearly apprehended the 
value of social influence in political life, and heartily 
and deliberately sought to employ it. He had 
the means to gratify his feelings and accomplish 
his aims. It was this clear purpose which led 
him to select for his official residence the ample 
house on Lafayette Square, which had already an 
established reputation for hospitality. The doors 
of this house opened widely and frequently for 
the entertainment of friends, of government of- 
ficials and the Senate, and of distinguished per- 
sons visiting Washington. Rarely was the family 
without guests, and large numbers were formally 
entertained at receptions and dinners. The Vice- 
President and Mrs. Hobart in this way filled an 
important place in the social life of Washington 

i 97 



198 Garret Augustus Hobart 

and in the political influence of the administration. 
Old friends were not forgotten in this new life. 

In this phase of his life necessarily Mrs. Hobart 
filled an important part. No one would have 
been more ready than her husband to confess that 
the success and charm of that social side of their 
life in Washington were largely due to her. To 
her wise management and good taste, her kindly 
manner and attention to every guest, and to her 
courtesy and tact, which met the requirements of 
difficult situations and the respect due to dis- 
tinguished persons, a tribute finds a proper place 
in this memorial. For her husband's sake she 
came out from the seclusion of her deep grief to 
take her place beside him in public life, and help 
him to carry out his views of the obligations of his 
office. 

The popularity of the Vice-President and Mrs. 
Hobart brought them many invitations to other 
homes, and they were frequently guests as well 
as entertainers. Exaggerated reports of the num- 
ber of these entertainments were published, and 
the illness of Mr. Hobart was attributed to the 
late hours which attendance on such occasions 
required. It needs to be remembered that to a 
man of Mr. Hobart's genial temperament rest 
and recreation were found in intercourse which 
afforded an agreeable change of scene and thought. 
When they were the guests of honor, they almost 
invariably retired at ten o'clock, and were in their 
home a half hour later. 



The Social Life of the Vice-President 199 

It needs also to be remembered that Mr. Hobart 
fully estimated the influence of friendly relations 
in political life, and had planned his home life 
in Washington as a means to this desirable end. 
Reference to his hospitality may be made again 
because it was exercised with a deliberate purpose, 
and was entirely consonant with] his feelings. 
It is an undoubted fact that his own personal rela- 
tions with the Senate, as well as its harmonious 
working with the administration, were happily 
influenced by the entertainments given to that 
body. Under the influence of cordial greeting and 
good cheer, the suspicions aroused by mischief- 
making reports of his intentions, as President of 
the Senate, were effectually allayed. The mis- 
understanding of the attitude of the executive 
was there corrected when the President and 
Senators met socially on common ground. The 
asperities of party strife were forgotten in these 
entertainments, and good feeling took the place 
of suspicion and opposition in the minds of the 
Senators in their own relations and toward the 
President. 

Many times, formally and informally, the Pres- 
ident was the honored and welcome guest in that 
home. He came to it with the familiarity of a 
friend. Ambassadors and ministers from other 
lands, as well as distinguished visitors, were enter- 
tained with the respect due to them personally, 
as well as to their station. 

The largest and most notable entertainment 



2oo Garret Augustus Hobart 

was given to the Prince of the Belgians, who 
made a visit to this country at that time, and 
spent some days at Washington. His expected 
presence was announced officially by Count Lich- 
tervelde, the representative of his government. 
His first official entertainment was necessarily at 
the White House, where it was arranged that he 
should dine on Friday evening with the President. 
On Saturday evening the Minister had planned to 
entertain the Prince at a dinner and reception. 
When the Vice-President and Mrs. Hobart invited 
him through the Minister to a dinner and reception 
on the following Monday evening, Countess Lich- 
tervelde, wife of the Minister, replied that the 
Prince expected to leave Washington on Monday 
morning, but that he would be pleased to accept 
the invitation for Sunday. To this Mrs. Hobart 
answered that they never entertained on Sunday, 
but she hoped that the Prince would remain until 
Monday, and do them the honor of dining with 
them then. He consented to this, and was 
entertained with the ambassadors and other dis- 
tinguished persons at dinner, and afterward re- 
ceived with the family those invited for the 
evening. As they went to the table the national 
air of Belgium was played, and after that in suc- 
cession the national air of each ambassador 
present. To this graceful compliment each am- 
bassador in turn raised his glass to Mrs. Hobart 
and bowed. 

Similar attentions were paid to the Anglo- 



The Social Life of the Vice-President 201 

American Joint High Commission, of which Lord 
Herschell was the head. At the beginning of 
the sessions of the commission Lord Herschell 
fell and broke his leg. No serious results were 
apprehended, but the shock of his fall caused his 
death. On the day before he died Mrs. Hobart 
sent him a basket of roses. When Mr. Hobart 
called later in the day Lord Herschell expressed 
his sincere thanks for her kindness and the hope 
that he would soon be able to call and thank her 
personally. This hope was not to be realized. 
The next day he died from heart weakness. 

While social duties were accepted as official 
obligations, they were not perfunctorily carried 
out. They were enjoyed by Mr. Hobart. Un- 
doubtedly they taxed his strength, but they also 
refreshed his spirits, and served a useful purpose 
in the harmonious work of the administration. 



CHAPTER XXII 
Failing Health and Changes 

HUMAN vigor has a limit, and that limit is 
reached sooner when sorrow wastes the 
strength which hard work has weakened. 
Through these active days, filled with official 
and social duties, Mr. Hobart carried, hidden in 
his heart, a sadness which time did not assuage, nor 
honors charm siway. The memory of the daughter 
he had lost was present with him, even when he 
was occupied in duties and taking part in social 
engagements. Labor and grief were, however, 
exhausting his vitality. At times he experienced 
a difficulty in breathing, and was compelled to 
confess he had a strange feeling of weakness and 
weariness. It began to be whispered, as if it 
could not be true, that his health was impaired. 
As he made no complaints and always appeared 
cheerful and active, the rumors which had 
alarmed his friends died away, and their fears were 
dismissed. Nevertheless, there was a serious 
heart trouble, which alarmed the physicians whom 
it became necessary to consult. The disease was 
not diagnosed at first as necessarily fatal, and it 
was hoped and expected that life could be pro- 



Failing Health and Changes 203 

longed, even if a cure could not be effected. For 
a time the serious nature of his trouble was not 
fully told to the family. 

During the Congressional holiday of 1898-9, a 
severe attack of grip weakened his strength and 
aggravated the unfavorable symptoms. As in- 
stant relief needed to be given in the attacks to 
which he was liable at any time, the real condition 
of the case had to be made known to Mrs. Hobart, 
and she was given remedies to be employed in 
case of sudden seizure. She always carried them 
with her wherever they went. Her anxiety had 
no relief, even in scenes of enjoyment. It was 
with serious misgivings that she saw him return 
to his post and resume, with faithful attention, 
the duties of his office. Important questions of 
national interest were at this time under discus- 
sion, and the party of the administration was not 
entirely united on the measures proposed by the 
President. The issue of the Spanish war involved 
this nation in responsibilities, not only toward 
the island of Cuba, but also toward the Hawaiian 
Islands and the Philippines. Strenuous opposition 
was made in the Republican party to the retention 
of the latter islands under the protection of this 
country. These earnest and sometimes bitter 
discussions carried the session of Congress far into 
the spring. The weather at that time was un- 
usually warm, even for Washington. As was his 
custom, the President of the Senate was in the 
chair day after day, an attentive listener to the 



204 Garret Augustus Hobart 

debates. The long hours and the oppressive 
weather greatly debilitated him. And when the 
session came to an end, after he had delivered 
the closing address he was seriously overcome. He 
rallied quickly and recovered his powers, but his 
life at that moment was in imminent peril. He 
might easily have died before he left the chair. 
Little as he, or the Senators, apprehended the fact, 
he was never again to stand in his place and take 
up the gavel which he then laid down. It was 
confidently expected at that time — a confidence 
shared by Mr. Hobart — that a few months of rest 
would restore him to health. 

His plans had been laid to make the summer 
vacation restful and helpful. The President and 
Vice-President had arranged to visit Senator 
Hanna at his winter home near Thomasville, 
Georgia, immediately after the adjournment of 
Congress; and to meet later in the summer at 
Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, where they had 
spent a part of their vacation pleasantly in the 
previous year. The unusual heat and humid- 
ity, added to the fatigue of the journey, affected 
Mr. Hobart unfavorably, and it became necessary 
to make a change at once. He and his family 
returned after a brief stay at Thomasville to 
Washington, and sought rest at their home there 
until they could decide what was best to be done. 

A cool and invigorating air was essential for 
the patient. Normanhurst, near Long Branch, 
was selected as seeming to meet all the require- 



Failing Health and Changes 205 

ments of a semi-invalid. The house was commo- 
dious, the grounds were ample and well shaded, 
and the ocean was near enough to give the benefit 
of healthful breezes. It was easily accessible, and 
yet privacy was possible. The region was familiar 
to him, and in the changes which had occurred 
since his boyhood there was much to awaken 
interest and recall pleasant memories of his youth- 
ful days. The place seemed exactly suited for the 
needs of the patient, who had now to be recog- 
nized as an invalid who required quiet and 
care. 

The condition of the Vice-President became now 
a matter of public knowledge and concern. The 
effects of disease were soon too plainly evident 
to be concealed, but the facts were kept back as 
far as possible. The newspapers were to him 
now of peculiar interest, since all work had been 
forbidden. He was able to be about the house and 
grounds when not suffering from pain, and to the 
papers he turned day by day as connecting him 
still with the life in which most of his days had 
been passed. It was undesirable for him, as a 
patient, that the facts of his case should be pub- 
lished and discussed where they might come under 
his own eyes. As far as possible, therefore, the 
family kept any statements of the character of 
his disease and his real condition from the re- 
porters. With a courage which never betrayed 
its fears and never faltered, the one who knew all 
the facts, and watched every movement and every 



206 Garret Augustus Hobart 

change with a wife's devotion, guarded him from a 
knowledge of his danger. 

Every effort was made to divert the patient and 
assist nature to resist disease. At times hope re- 
vived, and it seemed as if recovery might be pos- 
sible. All work was forbidden, and for the first 
time since he assumed the responsibilities of life 
he was truly idle. Hours and days were spent 
on the piazzas, and under the trees, in absolute 
rest. It became a diversion for this active man of 
affairs to watch and to feed the gold fish swimming 
in a pool on the grounds. He knew them sepa- 
rately, and gave to each one the name of some 
distinguished friend. He took occasional drives 
when his strength permitted over the fine roads 
in that region. Scarcely a day passed when one 
or more of his friends did not come to inquire 
about him and speak a word of cheer and hope. 
And so the season passed into the summer, with 
alternate hopes and fears. 

As the time approached when by previous 
agreement the Vice-President was to meet the 
President at Plattsburg, partly from the long 
habit of keeping appointments and partly from 
the restlessness of sickness and idleness, he re- 
solved, contrary to the advice of his physicians, to 
go there. So strongly was his mind set upon this 
purpose, it was thought best to yield to his wishes. 
Accordingly the family went in August to this 
pleasant summer retreat, making the journey as 
easy as possible. But the constant excitement 



Failing Health and Changes 207 

and bustle caused by the presence of the President 
and members of the Cabinet at that place told 
unfavorably upon his condition. Fainting spells 
and loss of sleep alarmed those who understood the 
seriousness of his case, and it became necessary 
to make another change. It was not thought 
advisable to go to the Paterson home at that sea- 
son of the year, and they returned to Normanhurst. 
So anxious was the President about his colleague, 
that he changed his plans in order to accompany 
him and see him safely settled in the home by 
the sea. The party arrived by special train at 
Long Branch in the early morning of August 25th. 
At that season the New Jersey coast is thronged 
with people seeking the relief of ocean breezes 
from the heat of adjoining cities. The announce- 
ment of the coming of the President drew to the 
station at seven o'clock in the morning an im- 
mense throng. A military tournament was then 
being held in Hollywood Park, and a detail from 
the troops there assembled had been chosen to 
act as an escort for the President, while a battery 
stationed near by was to fire a salute. The noise 
of the train and of the guns, with the movement of 
the soldiers, so excited the horses attached to Mr. 
Hobart's carriage that they could scarcely be con- 
trolled, and it was only by the most dexterous 
management of the driver that they were pre- 
vented from trampling on a reporter who had been 
knocked down from his bicycle. On their arrival 
at the house, delegations came to ask the President 



208 Garret Augustus Hobart 

to review the troops assembled, and to attend a 
public gathering at Ocean Grove in the large au- 
ditorium. As the President and Mrs. McKinley 
were to start the next day for Pittsburg, every 
hour of the day was filled with the acceptance of 
these invitations, and the coming and going of 
those who desired to pay their respects to the chief 
executive. At seven o'clock the next morning 
Mr. Hobart attended his guests to the train, and 
in the afternoon reviewed the troops assembled at 
Hollywood Park. This review drew large numbers 
to the scene. There were assembled seven com- 
panies from different regiments of the National 
Guard of New York, with Troop C of Brooklyn 
and the Wilson Battery. Two companies of 
United States marines were also present, while the 
gunboat Scorpion, a converted yacht, was anchored 
off the shore. The exertion and excitement of 
these scenes greatly exhausted Mr. Hobart, and 
during the review he suffered one of those severe 
attacks of pain to which he had now become 
subject. It was evident that, if his life was to be 
prolonged, all scenes of excitement must here- 
after be avoided. 

During this period of residence on the coast, a 
painful duty was laid upon him, which loyalty 
and friendship forbade him to refuse. He was 
asked by the President to inform General Alger, 
the Secretary of War, that his resignation would 
be accepted. In the conditions disclosed by the 
war with Spain, and in the conduct of the war, 



Failing Health and Changes 209 

there was much that awakened the shame and 
aroused the indignation of the nation. When 
war was declared, the army of the nation was 
composed of 26,040 men. Between April 21, 1898, 
the date of the declaration, and May 25, in two 
successive calls, the army was increased to 200,000 
men. The machinery of the government proved 
altogether inadequate to assemble this number 
in camps, and to provide shelter, clothing, and 
arms for them. No part of the $50,000,000 put 
under the control of the President by Congress 
could legally be used to supply immediate needs 
for defence. The volunteer regiments had to be 
armed with the antiquated Springfield rifles. 
Of the 2,362 pieces of ordnance, provided for by 
the Endicott Board in 1885, only 151 were in posi- 
tion in the coast defences. For the heavy guns 
there were in store fewer than twenty rounds of 
ammunition for each, and there was not a single 
pound of smokeless powder. When these facts 
came to be known, the nation was stirred with 
indignation and fear. Public opinion demanded a 
victim on whom the blame could be laid. Natur- 
ally, but unreasonably, the Secretary of War was 
attacked. He was blamed for conditions which 
existed before he took office, and for matters 
over which it was impossible for him to have con- 
trol. No one seemed to remember that the 
administration had resisted the declaration of 
war as long as possible; that for years Congress 
had refused to increase the army ; that the defences 



210 Garret Augustus Hobart 

of our shores on two oceans were inadequate in 
strength and material; that our arsenals had an 
insufficient supply of arms of various patterns 
and almost all out of date. The realization of this 
shameful condition created a panic on the Atlantic 
and Pacific coasts. It was the weakness of Spain, 
rather than the strength of this nation, that saved 
us from incalculable losses. 

Secretary Alger could not fail to learn from the 
daily papers that he was severely censured. To 
relieve the administration, he offered his resigna- 
tion to the President, who declined to accept it. 
Unfortunately, at this time in the political field 
events occurred which prevented the President 
from resisting the demands of the people. It 
was felt necessary to make a change, and John 
Hay, Secretary of State, was asked to inform 
Secretary Alger of the decision. He declined 
the task, and the Vice-President, as a warm per- 
sonal friend of General Alger, was asked to per- 
form this unpleasant duty. Attorney-General 
Griggs went to Long Branch, as the messenger of 
the President, to ask this service from Mr. Hobart, 
who, as usual, accepted the duty in loyalty and 
friendship. Secretary Alger went to Long Branch 
to visit his sick friend, and the President's decision 
was broken to him. The news was unexpected, 
and was received with surprise and pain. When 
the Secretary left the house it was evident that 
his feelings had been deeply wounded. But the 
reflections of the night made him realize that the 



Failing Health and Changes 21 r 

kindness of a friend had caused Mr. Hobart's ac- 
ceptance of the painful duty. He returned in the 
morning, and with feelings deeply stirred as he 
saw his true friend sitting on the piazza, and so 
evidently showing the effects of sickness, to the 
honor of his manhood, General Alger ran and threw 
his arms about him and kissed him. The old 
friendship was restored, and remained unbroken 
to the end. 






CHAPTER XXIII 
The Death of the Vice-President 

AS the summer passed away it became evident 
that Mr. Hobart had lost strength, and 
that all hope of his recovery must be 
given up. It was decided best therefore to return 
to his home at Paterson. There were days, even 
yet, when it seemed as if life might be indefinitely 
prolonged, but it was with the feeling that the 
battle was lost, and that the final retreat had 
begun, that the return to Paterson was made. 
There can be little doubt that he recognized the 
fact, though he welcomed the thought of going 
back to the home he loved, sacred with memories 
of many joys and of one great sorrow. The family 
returned to Paterson September 20, 1899. The 
brief public life of the Vice-President, which had 
lasted only a little more than two years, was ended. 
In the first year of his office a rumor was spread 
abroad that Mr. Hobart had died suddenly, but 
so quickly was the statement denied that it did 
not cause any excitement. The reason for such a 
rumor has never been discovered. 

The condition of the patient could no longer be 
concealed, and it was thought best to announce 



The Death of the Vice-President 213 

the fact that his public career was closed. An- 
nouncement was accordingly made that he would 
not be able to preside over the Senate at the ap- 
proaching session of Congress. It was generally 
understood that this announcement was a declara- 
tion that there was no hope of recovery. He was 
able for a few times to drive out for a short dis- 
tance. But from this time he was entirely con- 
fined to his room, and few of his friends ever again 
saw him alive. 

The public announcement of his withdrawal from 
the duties of his office awakened a deep interest in 
his condition throughout the country, and from 
this time on there was a constant endeavor by 
reporters of the papers to learn daily the condition 
of the patient. He was still able and eager to 
read the papers when not suffering severe pain, 
and it seemed necessary, both to the family and 
the physicians, that he should not see daily a 
report of his condition, and a discussion of his 
case. For his sake they felt it necessary to with- 
hold all the information which they could. This 
aroused constant efforts on the part of the re- 
porters, who, as the disease made progress and 
the end seemed to be approaching, hovered around 
the house by night as well as day to obtain news 
from any and every source. As relief came after 
severe attacks of pain, and strength returned 
after exhaustion, it was possible at times to say 
that the patient was comfortable and even im- 
proved. In this way, though there was absolutely 



214 Garret Augustus Hobart 

no hope at any time, contradictory stories ap- 
peared, and even up to the very last, unwarranted 
statements were made in the newspapers that he 
would soon resume the duties of his office. 

Many friends, longing to show their regard and 
sympathy, came to the house whom he was unable 
to see, but whose visits cheered him. All these 
attentions were felt deeply by the sufferer. He 
was always eager to know the names of those 
who called, and his often repeated injunction was, 
"Treat my friends well." He never lost his 
interest in his friends or in affairs. 

Within the home, the oft-repeated miracle of 
love, sustaining the wife for tasks beyond human 
strength and endurance, was witnessed. No de- 
lusion was cherished by the faithful watcher and 
nurse, who, hiding her fears, with cheerful coun- 
tenance and helpful words revived hope and life 
in the sufferer by her constant ministry. The 
romance of youthful days made beautiful the 
service of love in these hours of trial, and awakened 
sympathy in thousands of hearts all over the land. 
Many kind words came to that anxious home, and 
many prayers were offered that the useful life 
might be spared, and, if not, that strength might 
be given to the wife to endure to the end. These 
were granted. Except in the severe paroxysms 
of pain little needed to be done. At times the pain 
was so intense that his head would be covered with 
moisture, and a handkerchief passed over it would 
be as wet as if it had been dipped in water. Dur- 



The Death of the Vice-President 215 

ing the latter part of his sickness the patient could 
not take a reclining position without a sense of 
suffocation, and the only sleep obtained was 
while he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned 
forward, resting his head on a table. A nurse, 
who had been for many years with the family 
whenever sickness entered the home, was the 
only assistant needed or desired in the sick-room. 
Through those weeks of pain, Alice Wardle gave 
untiring and faithful service to the sufferer. 

During this period the President kept in almost 
daily communication with the home in Paterson, 
sending messages of sympathy and hope. At one 
time it was reported to him the patient had given 
up hope, and had made up his mind it was idle 
to struggle any longer. At once he sent a message 
urging Mr. Hobart to rally his courage and make 
a new effort, and at the same time sent Dr. Rixey, 
his official medical attendant, to strengthen the 
appeal and add his advice. 

The limit of endurance was now fast approach- 
ing, and it became evident that any day, or any 
hour, might bring the end. No one realized more 
clearly than Mr. Hobart the inevitable change 
that must come. He had given up all that made 
life dear to him, and had borne disappointment 
and pain without a murmur. With the same 
self-control and resignation he awaited death. 
Because life was so precarious that a little excite- 
ment might be fatal, no persons had been ad- 
mitted to the sick-room for weeks. The day 



216 Garret Augustus Hobart 

before his death, his pastor, who had known him 
for many years, and was tenderly attached to 
him from long acquaintance and many acts of 
kindness, was permitted in an interval of relief 
from pain to see him for a few brief moments. In 
perfect composure and consciousness he expressed 
his unchanged confidence in Jesus Christ, the 
Lord and Saviour of men, as his Lord and Saviour, 
and his sure trust in Him as the Saviour of his 
soul. It was evident that death was at hand, and 
that the end might come at any moment. 

About noon on Monday, November 20, a 
marked change appeared. He said nothing to 
indicate that he thought the end was at hand, 
but it was evident that his strength was failing, 
and at times his suffering was severe. At inter- 
vals of relief he slept in the afternoon and even- 
ing. About midnight he rallied and spoke to 
Mrs. Hobart concerning some matters to which 
he wished her to attend. Then he fell asleep, and 
never woke on earth. The world in which he 
awoke is the world in which there is no pain, and 
where all tears are wiped away. The cause of his 
death was dilatation of the right heart, due to 
myocarditis, an inflammation of the muscles of 
the heart which prevents the performance of their 
functions. He had worked in life with diligence 
and success; he had bowed in sorrow with sub- 
mission ; he had struggled in sickness with courage 
and patience; he had resigned health and place 
and power without a murmur ; and now he yielded 



The Death of the Vice-President 217 

his life to God who gave it with faith and hope. 
Many good wishes and fervent prayers had been 
offered for his recovery all over the country. But 
it was not to be. In Paterson, and no doubt in 
other places also, Hebrew and Gentile, Catholic 
and Protestant had with united hearts joined in 
these petitions in public worship and private 
devotions. 

Garret A. Hobart, Vice-President of the United 
States, died at half-past eight o 'clock on Tuesday 
morning, November 21, 1899. There were present 
at his death Mrs. Hobart and his son, Garret 
Augustus, jr., the only surviving child ; Dr. Newton, 
his family physician, and Mrs. Newton; and the 
nurse Alice Wardle. Frederick Evans, his secre- 
tary, who had been at the house for some weeks, 
was in an adjoining room. 

He was the sixth Vice-President to die in office, 
and four of them expired in the month of Novem 
ber. The names of those who died in office were 
George Clinton of New York, who died in 181 2, 
aged seventy-three; Elbridge Gerry of Massachu- 
setts, who died in 18 14, aged seventy; William 
R. King of Alabama, who died in 1853, aged sixty- 
seven ; Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, who died in 
1875, aged sixty-three; Thomas A. Hendricks of 
Indiana, who died in 1885, aged sixty-six; and 
Garret Augustus Hobart of New Jersey, who died 
in 1899, aged fifty-five. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Reception of the News of Mr. Hobart's 
Death 

THE news of the death of Mr. Hobart was 
first communicated to the President. Early 
in the morning an attempt had been made 
to inform him by telephone of the approaching 
dissolution of his friend, but communication with 
the White House could not then be obtained. 
The news, though not unexpected, profoundly 
moved the President, and deeply affected Mrs. 
McKinley. The President felt that he had lost 
a faithful friend and wise counsellor, and Mrs. 
McKinley that ties of close intimacy and regard 
were now broken. A telegram expressing his 
sense of loss and his sympathy for the family 
was immediately sent to Mrs. Hobart, and by the 
President's orders the doors of the White House 
were closed to all visitors, and the flag over the 
building placed at half-mast. Later in the day 
the President announced to the nation the death of 
the Vice-President in the following proclamation : 

[By the President of the United States] 
A Proclamation to the People of the United States 
Garret Augustus Hobart, Vice-President of the United 



The Reception of the News of Death 219 

States, died at his home at 8:30 o'clock this morning. 
In him the nation has lost one of its most illustrious citi- 
zens, and one of its most faithful servants. His participa- 
tion in the business life and the law-making body of his 
native State was marked by unswerving fidelity, and by a 
high order of talents and attainments; and his too brief 
career as Vice-President of the United States and President 
of the Senate exhibited the loftiest qualities of upright and 
sagacious statesmanship. In the world of affairs he had 
few equals among his contemporaries. His private char- 
acter was gentle and noble. He will long be mourned by 
his friends as a man of singular purity and attractiveness, 
whose sweetness of disposition won all hearts, while his 
elevated purposes, his unbending integrity, and whole- 
hearted devotion to the public good deserved and acquired 
universal esteem. , 

In sorrowing testimony of the loss which has fallen on 
the country, I direct that on the day of the funeral the 
executive offices of the United States shall be closed, and 
all the posts and stations of the Army and Navy shall dis- 
play the national flag at half-mast; and that the representa- 
tives of the United States in foreign countries shall pay 
appropriate tribute to the illustrious dead for a period of 
thirty days. 

In witness whereof I have set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-first day 
of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, 
and of the Independence of the United States the one 
hundred and twenty-fourth. 

By the President 

William McKinley. 

John Hay, Secretary of State. 

As the news spread through the city of Washing- 
ton, the members of the Cabinet came to the White 



22 o Garret Augustus Hobart 

House to consult with the President about the 
steps to be taken to express the respect of the 
administration for the memory of the Vice- 
President. It was decided that Attorney-General 
Griggs, an intimate friend and fellow-townsman 
of Mr. Hobart, should go at once to Paterson to 
learn Mrs. Hobart 's wishes, and in accordance 
with them make arrangements for the attendance 
of the President and Cabinet at the funeral ser- 
vices. Later, Colonel Bright, Sergeant-at-Arms 
of the Senate, went also to Paterson to make 
arrangements for the attendance of members of 
the Senate and House of Representatives. And 
still later Captain Garden, of the Capitol Police, 
followed to ask that he and eight of the force 
under him should be permitted to bear the body 
from the house to the church. The artless ex- 
pression of one of the pages shows genuine feeling : 
" He understood us fellows better than most men. 
He was the right sort, down to the ground, and 
there is n't a fellow at the Capitol who does n't 
feel as if he had lost some one who belonged to 
him. " 

In the city of Washington both official and 
social circles sought in every way to show their 
respect for the dead. All the departments of the 
Government were closed on the day of the funeral. 
The Post-office Department directed that all post- 
offices in the country should be closed between 
the hours of two and four on Saturday, when the 
funeral services were to be held. Under similar 



The Reception of the News of Death 221 

orders the offices of collectors of customs and 
internal revenue were closed on that day. The 
social engagements of official persons for the day 
of the funeral were cancelled. Signs of mourning 
appeared not only on the public buildings, but 
also on places of business and private houses. 
On the embassies and ministries the flags of the 
nations represented were placed at half-mast. 
According to established custom, these represen- 
tatives of foreign nations did not attend the 
funeral. They called officially on the President 
to express the sympathy of their governments 
in the national loss, and their personal sorrow. 

From every part of the country, north and south, 
east and west, came touching tributes of sorrow 
and respect. The bell at Independence Hall was 
tolled, and flags at half-mast were displayed on 
the public buildings in Philadelphia. Throughout 
the States in general, both at the capitals and 
large cities and even in small towns, there were 
similar indications of national grief. In every 
newspaper there were editorials testifying to the 
esteem and affection which the Vice-President 
had won, with long accounts of his life. 

Theodore Roosevelt, then Governor of the State 
of New York, issued this proclamation: 

[State of New York, Executive Chamber] 

Proclamation by the Governor 

I announce with profound grief the death of Garret A. 
Hobart, Vice-President of the United States. He was a 



222 Garret Augustus Hobart 

public servant of tried capacity and stainless integrity, who 
in his high office exerted an influence for good, the extent of 
which is best realized by those who had been most intimate 
with him. New York joins with the rest of the nation in 
mourning his loss and paying homage to his high character. 
Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, Governor, as a 
mark of the high regard and esteem, in which the deceased 
was held by the people of this State, do direct that the 
flags upon all the public buildings of this State, including 
the armories and asylums, be displayed at half-mast up 
to and including Saturday, November 25th, the day of the 
funeral, and request that the citizens of the State unite in 
appropriate marks of respect to the memory of the deceased. 

Exchanges, boards, banks, business corpora- 
tions, and associations, benevolent, social, and 
political passed resolutions of regret and respect. 
At the Navy Yard in Brooklyn work ceased, and 
on all the vessels flags were placed at half-mast. 
At Fort Hamilton, a national salute of twenty- 
one guns was fired at reveille, and repeated at sun- 
set at "evening colors." For thirty days the 
officers of the army and navy wore as a badge 
of mourning, a crape band on their uniforms. 
Memorial services were held in many places 
throughout the country on the day of the funeral. 

Similar marks of respect were paid to the 
memory of the Vice-President in the dependencies 
of the nation, in Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, 
and the Philippines. On all embassies and con- 
sulates in foreign lands flags at half-mast an- 
nounced the respect and sympathy of the nation. 
In many European cities the American colonies 



The Reception of the News of Death 223 

met to express their feelings of sincere grief for 
the loss of one whose name was known and honored 
in their temporary residences. 

In the State of New Jersey, which had honored 
Mr. Hobart with every office he would accept, 
and which was honored by him, the feeling of 
sorrow was general and personal. He was known 
to all and loved by all of its citizens. The Gov- 
ernor of the State, Foster M. Voorhees, issued the 
following proclamation formally announcing the 
death of Mr. Hobart. 

Garret A. Hobart, Vice-President of the United States 
died this morning at his home in Paterson. It is with 
sincere sorrow that the Executive announces his death 
to the people of his State. He was a man distinguished 
for his noble and generous traits of character, and for the 
eminence of his services in State and National affairs. 

By counsel and by deed he has shaped and directed public 
affairs in a degree that has fallen to the lot of few Jerseymen. 
Possessed of quick and unerring judgment, endowed with 
rare executive abilities, fair and courteous in conduct, and 
withal possessed of a winning personality, he proved him 
self especially fitted for the exalted position to which he 
had been called by his countrymen. 

He was clean in his great office. He has brought great 
honor to himself, his native State, and to the country which 
he so dearly loved. His life was exemplary. In every 
relation, whether public or private, he won and held the 
confidence and affectionate regard of all. 

The people of New Jersey have cause to feel an especial 
pride in the honor which he has brought to them. It is 
right that they should pay to the memory of a citizen, so 
beloved and so worthy, every token of respect. 



224 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Now, therefore, I, Foster M. Voorhees, Governor of the 
State of New Jersey, do direct that the public buildings 
be draped in mourning for thirty days, and that until 
and including the day of his burial the flags thereon be 
placed at half-mast, and that during the funeral services 
the public offices be closed. 

If the nation and the people of the State felt so 
deeply the death of Mr. Hobart what shall be 
said of the grief of the citizens of Paterson, every 
one of whom regarded him with genuine affection! 
As his death became known from the tolling of 
the bells of mills and churches, business came to an 
end for a time. The citizens stopped each other 
on the streets to talk about the friend whom they 
had lost, each one having some personal memories 
to narrate. The Mayor, John Hinchcliffe, issued 
this' proclamation : 

Whereas, God in His infinite mercy has seen fit to remove 
from his post of usefulness our beloved and honored citizen, 
and Vice-President of the United States, Garret A. Hobart, 
and it becomes us to bow to His divine will and to ask that 
His mercy and blessings may rest upon us as a community 
in our affliction — 

Now, therefore, I, John Hinchcliffe, Mayor of the City of 
Paterson, in accordance with expressed desires of our citi- 
zens, do hereby recommend that upon the day of the funeral 
obsequies of our late Vice-President, the public schools, 
offices, and all places of business be closed throughout the 
day, that the people refrain from their usual avocations, and 
assemble in their accustomed places of worship at the hour 
of ii a.m., there to engage in ceremonies befitting the solemn 
occasion, and that all bells of the city be tolled between 
the hours of 9 and 11 a.m., and 1 and 2 p.m. of that day. 



The Reception of the News of Death 225 

As the services were held on Saturday contrary 
to the first expectation, parts of the proclamation 
of Mayor Hinchclifre became inoperative. Those 
of the courts of law in session in the city immedi- 
ately adjourned. The citizens met in the City 
Hall later in the day and in formal action ex- 
pressed the desire to have the funeral services 
placed under their charge, and appointed large 
committees of prominent citizens to carry into 
effect their wishes. It was a matter of profound 
regret to the citizens of Paterson to which assent 
was only given out of respect for the dead, that 
they could have so small a place in the last ser- 
vices for their beloved fellow- citizen. But he had 
become a national character, and the first place 
necessarily had to be given to the national repre- 
sentatives. Every association of every kind in 
the city, educational, benevolent, financial, and 
political, adopted resolutions of sorrow and regret. 

The intimate friends of the family as soon as 
they heard the news came to the home offering 
sympathy and services. One touching evidence 
of feeling was given by one of the Chinese resi- 
dents, whom Mr. Hobart had befriended. He 
came to the house with flowers which he asked 
might be placed near the body of him who had 
given him help in trouble. If loving sympathy 
could assuage grief, and words of affection heal 
hearts that were wounded, those who mourned in 
that home of sorrow would have found comfort 
and healing. 



CHAPTER XXV 
Arrangements for the Funeral 

AS has been said it was the earnest desire of 
the authorities and the people of Paterson 
that they might be permitted to have 
charge of the funeral services of their best loved 
and honored citizen. They proposed to take the 
body on the day selected for the funeral to lie in 
state in the City Hall, and afterward to hold 
memorial services in the armory, where, a little 
more than three years before, they had testified 
on the occasion of his nomination, to their high 
esteem for him. The State of New Jersey was 
equally ready to pay honor to the dead, but the 
nation in its highest representatives claimed the 
right to have charge of the funeral services. To 
this higher claim the State and the city reluctantly 
and sorrowfully yielded. In their acquiescence 
in this claim, which shut them out from this 
privilege and from almost any part in these ex- 
pressions, they showed a noble evidence of their 
regard for their fellow-citizen. At the services 
which were held at >the church with which Mr. 
Hobart was officially connected, there was room 
for scarcely more than a score of the citizens of 
226 



Arrangements for the Funeral 227 

Paterson, because of the large number of dis- 
tinguished persons and government officials who 
had come to pay this mark of respect and affection 
to the dead. With deepest regret the situation 
was accepted, and every effort was made by the 
inhabitants to show their feelings of sorrow and 
regard, and suitably to entertain those who came 
to the city to attend the funeral services. One 
who was present said: "No tribute that tongue 
can pay can be as grand as the tribute paid by 
the people of his adopted city as he lay in death 
in Carroll Hall. " 

Although a proper respect for his office made a 
public funeral a necessity, Mrs. Hobart desired 
that all the arrangements should be as simple and 
quiet as possible. As Vice-President, the marks 
of respect paid to a general in the army were 
his due. But no military display was desired 
by the family. It was evident, however, that 
great crowds of people would visit Paterson on 
the day of the funeral, and that the streets could 
not be kept clear for the funeral procession by 
the police of the city alone. The Secretary of 
War, therefore, issued orders for two companies 
of the Fifth Artillery of the United States Army 
from Forts Wadsworth and Hamilton to go to 
Paterson for this purpose on the day of the 
funeral. Under Captains Adams and Lomia, 
without martial music, the soldiers on their 
arrival marched to the armory where they were 
fed, and then proceeded to the house, and opened 



228 Garret Augustus Hobart 

a way through the crowds for the procession to 
pass to the church. They rendered an efficient 
and necessary service. 

In response to the urgent desire of the citizens, 
the doors of Carroll Hall were opened from two 
o'clock until six on the afternoon preceding the 
funeral, that those who desired might look upon 
the face of the dead for the last time. It was esti- 
mated that not fewer than twelve thousand per- 
sons passed by the coffin during those hours. 
When the time expired many still were waiting to 
be admitted. Some of the most intimate friends 
of Mr. Hobart stood by the coffin through these 
hours. 

Before his death Mr. Hobart had given ex- 
pression to his wishes with regard to his funeral. 
The religious services he had committed to his 
pastor. He had selected for the pall-bearers among 
his most intimate friends the following persons: 
John W. Griggs, J. Franklin Fort, 

E. T. Bell, George F. Baker, 

Franklin Murphy, E. A. Walton, 

J. W. Congdon, William Barbour. 

The honorary bearers appointed by the Senate 
were: 

Senator Frye, Senator Fairbanks, 
of Maine, of Indiana, 

Senator Hanna, Senator McMillan, 
of Ohio, of Michigan, 



Arrangements for the Funeral 229 



Senator Sewell, 
of New Jersey, 

Senator Kean, 
of New Jersey. 



Senator Daniel, 
of West Virginia, 

Senator Cockrell, 
of Missouri. 



Those appointed by the House of Representa- 
tives were : 



D. B. Henderson, 

of Iowa, 
John J. Gardner, 

of New Jersey, 
R. Wayne Parker, 

of New Jersey, 
Charles J. Joy, 

of Missouri, 



W. P. Hepburn, 

of Iowa, 
John Dalzell, 

of Pennsylvania, 
G. B. McClellan, 

of New York, 
J. F. Rixey, 

of Virginia. 



It was decided to hold the public services 
at the Church of the Redeemer, and everything 
was carefully arranged as far as possible to make 
them impressive and reverent. The church was 
decorated not in sombre colors of hopeless grief, 
but in colors of life and hope. Deep bands of 
smilax were wound about the pillars and festooned 
from one to another, and in them were entwined 
white chrysanthemums and roses. The pulpit 
and the place for the organist and choir were 
almost hidden by plants and flowers. Every 
seat in the church was assigned to a special person 
who had indicated an intention to be present, and 
had received from Mr. Evans a card of invitation. 



230 Garret Augustus Hobart 

In order that perfect quiet might be preserved, no 
persons were admitted who could not be seated. 
So large was the number of official persons from 
Washington and the State, who had indicated 
their intention to be present, tickets could not be 
furnished to more than one in ten of those who 
desired to attend as delegates from exchanges, 
banks, and corporations. On no similar occasion 
outside of the city of Washington had so many 
of the members of the Houses of Congress been 
in attendance. The New York Sun said of 
the assemblage gathered in the church: "No 
more notable congregation ever sat in an American 
church. " In Appendix IV will be found a com- 
plete list of those who were present as officials. 

Two special trains left Washington for Paterson 
on that Saturday. One train, bearing the Presi- 
dent and his Cabinet, the Chief -Justice and 
Justices of the Supreme Court left there as 6.55 
in the morning; the other train starting five 
minutes later carrying the members of Congress. 
They reached Paterson about one o'clock. The 
official representatives of the State came on special 
and regular trains, and were met at the stations 
and escorted to the Hamilton Club where they 
were entertained, and then proceeded to the 
church in a body before the procession reached 
there. 

It was estimated that not fewer than fifty 
thousand persons came to Paterson on that day 
by regular and special trains, all animated by the 



Arrangements for the Funeral 231 

desire to pay respect to the dead, and to witness 
signs of mourning and regard rarely displayed. 
With the citizens this multitude in solid masses 
of people on the sidewalks and lawns filled the 
streets from the house to the church, and from 
the church to the cemetery, a distance of two 
miles. 

The house was filled with flowers sent by per- 
sonal friends, officials of the city, and numerous 
associations. The British Ambassador, the Ger- 
man Ambassador, and the Ambassador from 
Russia sent wreaths of flowers. 

The members of Congress, the Cabinet, and the 
Supreme Court were taken to the house a short 
time before the service to be held there began. 
When the President arrived, Mr. Evans met him 
at the door, and said: "Mr. President, Mrs. Hobart 
desires to see you." He passed upstairs where 
the family was to remain during the brief service 
at the house. Few words were spoken, but with 
broken voice he said: "No one outside of this 
home feels this loss more deeply than I do." 
This chapter finds a fitting end in the letter which 
on his return, after the affecting scenes of the day, 
he sent to Mrs. Hobart: 

Executive Mansion, Washington 
Nov. 26, 1899. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

We reached here at eleven-thirty last night. I found 
Mrs. McKinley comfortable, and deeply interested in the 
events of the day, and so anxious about you and Junior. I 
told her all that you said, the loving messages of your hus- 



232 Garret Augustus Hobart 

band, your noble courage, the loving devotion of your son, 
the dignified and impressive services, the countless tokens 
of affection at home and church and cemetery sent by 
admiring friends, the beautiful tribute of your pastor, and 
Dr. Shaw's touching prayer, and then the striking mani- 
festations of love and respect for the Vice-President from 
his neighbors and fellow townsmen, who were all sad 
mourners at the obsequies of their friend. 

All on our train were profoundly moved. It was a hard 
day for you, but you bore it all so bravely in our presence. 
We have talked of you many, many times to-day, and of 
your loneliness on this first Sunday of your separation. I 
write only that I may again tell you how we feel for you 
and Hobart, Jr., and wish we had the power to mitigate 
your grief and loss. Mrs. McKinley bids me say (and I 
join most heartily in the invitation) that when you come to 
Washington you must make the White House your home. 
You shall be quiet and protected. Bring Junior. If you 
advise us we will meet you at the train. Mrs. McKinley 
sends love to you and Junior, in which I beg leave to unite. 

Your friend, 

William McKinley. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
The Funeral Services 

THE day of the funeral was clear, though the 
air was cold. The silence in the city was 
unbroken that morning by the usual call 
of steam whistles to the labors of the day. All 
business was practically suspended. As the day 
advanced, through the streets there moved a 
constant stream of citizens and visitors toward 
the house of the late Vice-President. In the 
morning and in the afternoon the bells of the city 
were tolled. In many places throughout the 
country memorial services were held, business 
was suspended during the hours of the services in 
Paterson, and military honors were paid at every 
army post. 

Early in the day crowds began to assemble 
around the house and along the streets through 
which the procession was to pass. For hours 
before the appointed time of the public service 
the multitudes filled the walks and lawns and 
encroached on the streets on the way to the church. 
Had it not been for the troops present it would 
have been impossible for the procession to reach 
the church. 

233 



234 Garret Augustus Hobart 

The religious services at the house were attended 
by the officials from Washington, who, with the 
President, were seated in the library and picture 
gallery. The many personal friends, for whom 
no place could be found in the church, occupied 
the other side of the main floor. The family and 
relations of the Vice-President remained in the 
upper hall. Before arrivals at the house Mrs. 
Hobart and her son had taken their last look at 
the body of the one so dearly loved. The services 
at the home were necessarily brief and were con- 
ducted by the pastor, who read the Twenty-third 
Psalm and offered prayer. The choir of the 
Metropolitan Church of New York then sang 
the hymn Peace, Perfect Peace, after which the 
benediction was pronounced. 

As soon as the coffin was closed, the doors of the 
house were opened, and a word of command called 
the military force to attention. Captain Garden 
with eight men of the Capitol police came forward 
to bear the coffin to the hearse. In the meantime 
the President, with Secretary Hay and Chief - 
Justice Fuller, were conveyed in a carriage to the 
church by another route. There they were re- 
ceived by the city and State officials who were 
already in the seats assigned them, and rose as 
the party entered. The procession was immedi- 
ately formed. The pall-bearers preceded the 
hearse, the family followed in carriages, and after 
them came the long line of Senators, wearing 
broad white scarfs, and the members of the House. 



The Funeral Services 235 

Through the narrow lane kept open by the 
soldiers between the dense masses of people 
they moved silently and reverently to the church. 

It was by the desire of the Vice-President that 
his pastor and friend had charge of the services 
in the church. He was assisted in these services 
by the Rev. Dr. Charles D. Shaw, pastor of the 
Second Presbyterian Church in Paterson, also a 
long time friend. It was expected that the Rev. 
Dr. Milburn, the Chaplain of the Senate, would be 
present and take some part in the services, but 
on the morning of the day of the funeral a telegram 
was received from him saying that his physician 
had forbidden his taking the journey. The two 
officiating clergymen with the officers of the 
church passed up the central aisle as the procession 
reached the door of the church, and returning led 
the way, the pastor reciting the sentences begin- 
ning with the words: "I am the resurrection and 
the life. " While the family and members of Con- 
gress were taking their seats G. Mortimer Wiske, 
the organist, played Chopin's Funeral March. 

The Rev. Dr. Shaw read from the Scriptures, 
parts of the Ninetieth Psalm, the Fourteenth 
Chapter of Job, and the Fifteenth Chapter of 
First Corinthians, and offered prayer. The chorus 
of sixty members of the Orpheus Club sang 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, which was a favorite 
hymn of Mr. Hobart. The Rev. Dr. Magie, the 
pastor, then spoke the words which follow and 
afterward offered prayer: 



236 Garret Augustus Hbbart 

God alone is great. Before Him let us bow down in 
reverence and submission and hear His voice. "From 
everlasting to everlasting, He is God. Of old He laid the 
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of 
His hands. They shall perish, but He shall endure; yea 
all of them shall wax old as a garment, and as a vesture 
shall they be changed. Of His years there is no end. He 
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and 
among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay His 
hand nor have any a right to say to Him, what doest Thou? 
We are of yesterday and know nothing because our days 
upon earth are as a shadow. We all do fade as a leaf. All 
lie down alike in the dust. Man being in honor abideth 
not. Dust returns to dust and the spirit unto God who 
gave it." In such words does God in His revealed word 
humble and instruct mortal man. 

In this day of national calamity and grief it is fitting that 
we should come into the house of God, and bow in submis- 
sion before the Most High God. Garret A. Hobart, the 
man whom this nation honors, the man whom it learned 
to trust, has fallen in death. "The Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." 

Peace hath her victories 
No less renown'd than war 

For those victories peace as well as war must pay the 
same costly price of toil and sacrifice, of suffering and if 
needful, of life. The statesman, no less than the warrior, 
has suffered and died for truth and liberty, humanity and 
God. And if to-day no warlike sound is heard and no mili- 
tary honors are paid, none the less do we know that this 
life was given in the service of his country, and that its last 
official duties were done under the very shadow of death. 

This spirit of fidelity and courage was his by inheritance. 
The blood which flowed in his veins was from good English 
stock, and was mingled with the martyr blood of Dutch 



The Funeral Services 237 

and Huguenot ancestors. He would have been untrue to 
all his ancestral memories and tendencies, if he had not 
served the cause of freedom, of education, and of God. 
The ideals of his home life, under which he was trained, 
were of a high and holy character. They influenced and 
guided his life to its close. Had he lived as men ordinarily 
live, he might have reached the limit of fourscore years. 
He has died in the ripeness of his powers; full of honors, not 
of years. 

We gather in this church in which he was a worshipper, 
and from its inception a trustee, and to which he gave its 
beautiful name, to bow before God, and to bless him for the 
life now taken from us. We, who reside in this city, and 
knew and loved him well as a friend and neighbor, recog- 
nize with grateful feelings the respect paid his memory, as 
the Vice-President of the United States, by those of high 
station and varied circles of activity in their presence here 
to-day. Yet in all our hearts we do him reverence less as 
the Vice-President than as the friend dear to us all. He 
possessed the genius of friendship in greater degree than 
any other gift. 

It needs not that I should speak to-day of his public life 
and services. Prominent citizens and the press in all 
sections of the land and the proclamation of the President 
have done him noble justice. From the experience and 
training of many official duties in his native State, he 
entered on the high duties of the Vice-President of the 
United States. The office was to him no sinecure, much 
less a mere waiting on providence, but a trust which he 
had received from the nation, in which he would be found 
faithful. It became evident at once when he assumed the 
high office to which he had been elected, not merely that 
he possessed the dignity and capacity to preside over the 
deliberations of the Senate, but that he intended to do his 
duty with fairness and kindness. His brief term of serv- 
ice has gained for him the respect and friendship of the 



238 Garret Augustus Hobart 

whole Senate, irrespective of section or party, and has 
given to the office which he filled increased honor and 
influence. 

To the President of the United States he gave true affec- 
tion, unchanging confidence, and constant support. I may 
be permitted to say, even in this presence, that in private 
intercourse — speaking of the President — the words he 
most frequently used were: "He is a good man." And I 
may be permitted to add that outside this bereaved home 
there is, I am [sure, no more sincere mourner than the 
President of the United States. 

Genial, kindly, hospitable, no one ever had more friends, 
no one ever had fewer enemies. Indeed it may be questioned 
if he had an enemy. He made friends, and never lost a 
friend. And yet he had opinions, and expressed them 
freely. He loved to say pleasant words, and to do kindly 
acts. His generosity was unbounded. No one can tell, 
no one knows the number or the greatness of the kind deeds 
which he was constantly doing. He was never too tired 
to speak a cheering word, or too busy to do a kind deed. 
He might have spared himself many times, but he loved 
to do kindly things. He must be written down "as one 
who loved his fellow-men. " It is written in the truest Book 
ever written, and proved in universal experience, "a man 
that hath friends must show himself friendly." It is true 
still. The poor and lowly in this community feel that they 
lost a friend when Garret A. Hobart died. 

It cannot be said of him that those did not know him, 
who did not know him in his home. But it can be said 
that those knew him best who knew him there. The load 
of business cares, the worry of political life were there, all 
and altogether, laid aside. In his most happy home, he 
found relief from every care, and carried from it day by 
day fresh courage and purpose. Alas, wherever greatest 
joys are found, we must find our keenest sorrow. On a 
pleasure trip in a foreign land, among strangers, he lost 



The Funeral Services 239 

the only daughter of this home— a most gentle, true, and 
loving spirit. He said in speaking of the death: "There 
seemed nothing left out that could add to the bitterness of 
this sorrow." Yet he did not complain. He took up 
again the work of life and to many he seemed unchanged, 
but in that great sorrow was the beginning of this ending. 

Here, where he was best known and loved, he came back 
to die. All that science and skill and care and love could 
do was done in vain. When on his nomination he received 
an ovation from our citizens, irrespective of party, in the 
words he spoke he employed the passionate words of Burns 
for Glencairn, to express his feelings for this city. To those 
words every heart of that vast multitude assembled re- 
sponded. To that home, to which he came back with such 
satisfaction that for a time he seemed to rally, from every 
home in this city and in this State, and from multitudes of 
homes in this land, have been carried on the invisible cords 
of love and sympathy, help and hope drawn by prayer from 
the throne of Divine grace. How deeply all this touched 
his large heart, no words can tell. To what else than to 
these constant prayers can be ascribed the strength and 
courage above all that seemed possible to nature, that was 
given to her, who has been the joy of that home, and the 
never failing support of the weary days and nights of the 
patient sufferer, to enable her to watch and to cheer, to 
bear and to do all that was needful, all that was helpful, 
to the end. 

If to-day we are called to learn the universal lesson as- 
sociated with all human greatness — " vanity of vanities ; all 
is vanity" — there are other lessons we may also learn as 
true, but more cheering. It is true that industry and 
perseverance win success; it is true that loving feelings 
awaken love ; it is true that kind words are the best things 
to say and kind deeds the best things to do. 

There is a sphere in every true man's life, which is too 
sacred for even the dearest friends to enter. It is the re- 



240 Garret Augustus Hobart 

lation of his soul to God. As his pastor, I may be allowed 
to say that in the full possession, of his faculties, and in 
recognition of the inevitable end, he expressed his faith 
in Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and a firm hope of everlasting 
life. 

We are to lay in the grave — the house appointed for all 
the living — this body, but in our hearts, Garret A. Hobart 
lives and will live while life endures. 

After prayer by the pastor the large chorus 
sang the words so appropriate to this occasion: 

Weary hands, O weary hands, 

Resting now from life's endeavor, 
From the conflict, from the fever, 
Peaceful lying where ye fell, 
O folded hands, farewell, farewell. 

Gentle heart, O gentle heart, 

Faithful service didst thou render, 
Beating ever true and tender, 
On thee lies the silent spell, 
O loving heart, farewell, farewell. 

Parted soul, O parted soul, 

Passed beyond this earthly portal, 
Entered thro' the gate immortal, 

Into life no tongue can tell, 

O weary soul, farewell, farewell. 

The benediction was then pronounced, and the 
audience remained standing until those who were 
going to the cemetery passed out. It had been 
decided that the officials from Washington should 
not be asked to go to the cemetery after their long 



The Funeral Services 241 

journey, but the President would not consent to 
this, and with those who had been with him on the 
way to the church followed his friend to the Cedar 
Lawn Cemetery. All along the route of two miles 
crowds lined the road, and in the cemetery thou- 
sands gathered around the vault where the body 
was to be temporarily placed. The interior of 
the vault was lined with flowers taken from the 
house and the church. The services there were 
conducted by the clergymen who had officiated 
at the church, the pastor speaking the words 
committing the body to the grave, and the Rev. 
Dr. Shaw offering a brief prayer. 

It deserves to be recorded, as an evidence of 
the kind heart and courtesy of the President, that 
before he left the cemetery he took the pains to 
speak to the clergymen and express his apprecia- 
tion of the services. As soon as he could be taken 
to the train, it started on the way to Washington. 

These were the honors rendered to the man, even 
more than to the Vice-President. He had gained 
no great victories over his country's foes; he had 
done no great deeds of renown, but he had won 
the hearts of men, the truest measure of a true 
man. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

Subsequent Action by Public Bodies on the 
Death of the Vice-President 

AT the first session of the Senate of the 56th 
Congress of the United States, held Decem- 
ber 4, 1899, the senior Senator from New 
Jersey, Mr. Sewell, formally announced to that 
body the death of the Vice-President and offered 
these resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate has received with the deepest 
regret information of the death of Garret Augustus Hobart, 
late Vice-President of the United States. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be suspended 
in order that the distinguished public services of the de- 
ceased and the virtues of his private character may be 
fittingly commemorated. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be in- 
structed to communicate these resolutions to the House of 
Representatives. 

These resolutions were "laid on the table to be 
called up at a convenient season in the near 
future. ' ' John Kean, the junior Senator from New 
Jersey, moved "as a further mark of respect to 
the memory of the late Vice-President that the 
Senate do now adjourn. " 



Subsequent Action by Public Bodies 243 

On January 10, 1900, after the customary 
prayer by the Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. W. H. Mil- 
burn, in which special reference was made to the 
death of the Vice-President, the President pro 
tempore, Senator Frye, laid before the Senate the 
resolutions offered on the 4th of December. These 
resolutions were considered by unanimous con- 
sent, and agreed to. Twelve of the Senators spoke 
on this occasion, the opening and closing speeches 
being made by the Senators from New Jersey. 
On January 26th, similar action was taken in 
the House, when thirteen of the Representatives 
spoke; Representative Stewart, of Paterson, New 
Jersey, making the opening speech and Representa- 
tive Gardner, from the same State, the closing 
speech. Fifteen States were represented by the 
several speakers. All of them gave expression 
to the warmest personal regard for the Vice- 
President and admiration for his character and 
public services. These addresses were printed by 
the Government, with an engraved likeness of Mr. 
Hobart, and form an honorable memorial of this 
distinguished public servant. According to the 
custom of the Senate, a marble bust of its late 
President has been placed in the Senate Chamber. 

In the honors rendered to the memory of Mr. 
Hobart at the time of his funeral, his native State 
necessarily filled a subordinate place. The general 
sentiment of the citizens of New Jersey demanded 
that some formal expression should be made of 
their feelings toward the man who had given 



244 Garret Augustus Hobart 

such distinction to the State. The Legislature by 
the joint action of both houses held a memorial 
session at the State House in Trenton on February 
21, 1900. John W. Griggs was selected by the 
Legislature to deliver on that occasion a memorial 
address. Besides the members of the Legislature 
there were present Governor Murphy, Senators 
Sewell and Kean, and many personal friends. 
The exercises were opened with prayer by the 
Rev. Dr. Magie. The address which followed, 
and which was printed by the State, was a faithful 
and eloquent portrayal of the life and work of 
Mr. Hobart. It is a just tribute to the man by 
one who had been intimately associated with him. 
There was early set on foot in the city of Pater- 
son a movement to put in some public place a 
memorial of the high regard entertained for its 
most honored citizen. A large committee was 
appointed at a public meeting held soon after 
the funeral at the City Hall to carry into effect 
the general desire. From it a smaller committee 
was appointed, of which E. T. Bell, president of 
the First National Bank, one of Mr. Hobart 's 
most intimate friends, was made the chairman, 
to take charge of the matter. It was empowered 
to select the form of the memorial, to receive 
subscriptions, and to superintend the work. After 
much discussion in the papers and the committee, 
it was decided that the memorial should be a 
bronze statue of Mr. Hobart, to be placed on the 
plaza of the City Hall in front of its main entrance. 



Subsequent Action by Public Bodies 245 

There was long delay over the selection of a design 
and in the execution of the work, and after the 
work was finished a still longer delay was deemed 
judicious because it was necessary to repair the 
City Hall after the great fire which destroyed 
almost the whole business section of the city in 
1902. The design of the memorial, accepted 
under the advice of the National Sculpture Society, 
was made by Philip Martiny. It is a statue of 
heroic size, representing Mr. Hobart as Vice- 
President holding in his right hand a gavel rest- 
ing on a fasces wrapped in the national flag. At 
his feet on the opposite side are books of law. 
The figure is about nine feet high and the pedestal 
of equal height. 

For the erection of this statue $15,000 was 
raised by the citizens and former residents of 
Paterson, aided by the gifts of a few personal 
friends outside the city. The statue was unveiled 
with public ceremonies on June 3, 1903, in the 
presence of ten thousand persons. After prayer 
by the Rev. Dr. Magie, Vice- Chancellor Stevenson 
on behalf of the citizens' committee presented the 
work to the city with the expressed hope, "that 
it may stand as long as the city of Paterson stands, 
testifying the love of our hearts for the man, the 
respect and honor and tenderness in which we hold 
his memory, and our pride in his great career." 
The Mayor, Mr. John Hinchcliffe, received the 
gift with appropriate words on behalf of the city. 
An address was delivered by John W. Griggs, 



246 Garret Augustus Hobart 

which closed with these words: "He has passed 
into history. His character and services to his 
country will never pass away. The testimony of 
his contemporaries will show the transcendency 
of his talents and justify the fond pride with which 
his friends have placed his statue in this place, and 
challenged the world to say whether he was worthy 
of the distinction. " At the close of the address, 
Thornton B. Bell drew aside the flag which hid 
the statue from public view. 

The body of Mr. Hobart now lies in a mausoleum 
erected in Cedar Lawn Cemetery just outside the 
bounds of the city of Paterson. This structure 
was designed to be as enduring as the work of 
human hands could be made. It was designed by 
Henry Bacon of New York City, who also super- 
intended its erection. The order of architecture 
is what is known technically as Grecian Doric, 
the noblest form of that order. The building 
is thirty-eight feet long, nineteen feet broad 
and twenty -two feet high. The exterior walls 
are of granite, the pillars are monoliths, and the 
stones large and imposing. The roof is com- 
posed of only three great stones, the central one, 
forming the ridge, weighing forty-three tons. 
The door is of bronze in open work, and oppo- 
site to it is a window of stained glass, with a 
figure representing The Flight of the Soul. The 
interior of the structure is lined with marble. 
On both sides of the entrance are vaults, in 
one of which the body of the daughter, who 



Subsequent Action by Public Bodies 247 

died in Italy, has been placed. In the centre of 
the building stands a double sarcophagus, in one 
side of which is placed the body of the late Vice- 
President. When the building was completed, 
the family with a few intimate friends assembled 
in it, and with religious services conducted by 
their pastor this tomb was dedicated. On the 
slab of marble over the sarcophagus, where Mr. 
Hobart's body was placed, are simply the words: 

GARRET AUGUSTUS HOBART 
1844-1899 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

The Character and Services of Mr. Hobart as 
Viewed by his Contemporaries 

FOR the period of only two years and eight 
months was Mr. Hobart Vice-President of 
the United States. In this brief time his 
national reputation was made. It seems emi- 
nently proper that in this story of his life the 
estimates of his character and influence given 
by those, with whom as Vice-President he was 
associated, should find a place. The selection of 
these expressions is limited by the singular and 
interesting fact, that all of them reiterate the same 
general impression. They all speak of affection 
for the man as well as respect for the Vice-Presi- 
dent. This regard is most fully expressed in 
letters from the Senators in returning thanks for 
a photograph sent to each one at the expressed 
wish of Mr. Hobart. 

It is proper that the words of President McKinley 
should be first cited. In addition to the pro- 
clamation issued by the President to the country 
at the time of Mr. Hobart's death, he said in 
his message to Congress in December: "At the 
threshold of your deliberations you are called to 
248 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 249 

mourn with your countrymen the death of Vice- 
President Hobart, who passed from this life on 
the morning of November 21st last. His great 
soul now rests in eternal peace. His private 
life was pure and elevated, while his public career 
was ever distinguished by large capacity, stainless 
integrity, and exalted motives. He has been 
removed from the high office which he honored 
and dignified, but his lofty character, his devotion 
to duty, his honesty of purpose and noble virtues 
remain with us as a priceless legacy and example. " 
To these words may be added the following 
letter : 

Executive Mansion, 
January i, 1900 

Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

Mrs. McKinley thought it would be appropriate to write 
you the first note which goes out from the White House 
under date of 1900; and so with it we send you and Junior 
our love and sympathy and good wishes. Just at this hour 
one year ago I called upon the Vice-President and recall 
the pleasant visit with you, most of the guests having 
retired. And my visit was most agreeable. How we miss 
you. How we missed you yesterday is the message Mrs. 
McKinley bids me send you. 

You will be glad to know Mrs. McKinley stood the recep- 
tion well, and looked so well. She remained a little over an 
hour, and is sitting by me while I write. We could not let 
the day pass without sending you affectionate and sym- 
pathetic greeting. 

Mrs. McKinley sends much love to you both and 
believe me, 

Truthfully yours, 

William McKinley. 



250 Garret Augustus Hobart 

Ex- President Cleveland, on hearing the news of 
his death, said: "In common with all good citizens, 
I heard the news of Vice-President Hobart 's 
death with deepest regret. I never had known 
him or seen him till the inauguration day, when 
he assumed the duties of his official position. The 
slight intercourse on that occasion and my ob- 
servations since of the manner in which he per- 
formed his official duties convince me that in 
the death of Vice-President Hobart the American 
people have lost a faithful and conscientious 
public servant. " 

In the Houses of Congress all the speeches were 
made in the unvarying tone of respect and friend- 
ship. The memorial session of the Senate was 
held on January 10, 1900. From Senator Sewell's 
long personal acquaintance with Mr. Hobart, his 
remarks on the private life and the character of 
his friend have greater interest than those made 
on his public services. He said: "The character 
of Mr. Hobart was as the open day ; neither dark- 
ness nor shadow rested upon it. His conduct 
was ever just and honorable. The dignity of his 
manhood spurned all that was mean and worthless, 
and his virtues lent a charm of manner and social 
attractiveness that gave him prominence. . . . 
His acts of mercy and philanthropy — though 
many — were unproclaimed. His generous hospi- 
tality and good cheer flowed in a continual stream 
that found its source in the benevolence of his 
heart. The happiness of others was dearer to 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 251 

him than his own, and the cardinal principles 
of his creed were sympathy and kindness. He 
loved to do good and sought for opportunities to 
accomplish it. His word was his bond, and 
those who knew him asked no other security. " 

Senator Daniel, of Virginia, speaking of his 
official service, said: "I venture to say the office 
of Vice-President was never filled by any one who 
met all of its responsibilities with more equal and 
uniform sufficiency, or discharged its duties with 
more acceptability to all concerned than did our 
beloved and lamented friend. . . . Nothing that 
happened in this hall escaped the eye of his alert 
attention. Our late Vice-President was the model 
presiding officer of a deliberative assembly. " 

There is placed here a letter received from Sena- 
tor Daniel which Mr. Hobart greatly prized. It 
was in answer to a letter of congratulation on the 
Senator's re-election. It is as follows: 



My Dear Mr. President: 

You are our President, and my appreciation of the fact 
warms into affectionate gratitude upon the receipt of your 
welcome salutations as I am again consigned to your care. 

It is a bailment, I fear, without reward to the bailee, 
but the bailment felicitates itself that it is to be under 
such supervision as has happily fallen to its lot. 

Skeptics doubt whether any party "saves the country" 
with as much certainty as every party claims to have done 
it as soon as it discovers itself on top, but there is no doubt 
that those that administer great places as you do, do a vast 
deal to make life worth living and to create that atmos- 



252 Garret Augustus Hobart 

phere in which patriotism becomes a hope and a joy as 
well as a creed and a duty. 

I will be fortunate and happy if I may derive any such 
measure of profit from your example, as I have derived of 
pleasure and satisfaction in its contemplation. 

And so, my dear Chief, I give you the right hand of a 
friendship which, instinctive upon acquaintance, has been 
cemented by association, and has grown with my admira- 
tion and respect with every renewal of contact, and I am 
honored that I may subscribe myself, as I am 
Your Friend and obt. Servant, 

Jno. W. Daniel. 

Senate, Dec. 6, 1897. 

Senator Cullom, of Illinois, paid this tribute 
to the kindly and great qualities of the late Vice- 
President: "We as Senators of the United States, 
comprising all shades of public opinion, and com- 
ing from all sections of our common country, are 
animated by a common desire to do honor to the 
memory of this man whom we had learned to 
love, and to place on the perpetual record of the 
Senate our tribute to his illustrious memory. The 
few years of my acquaintance with Garret A. 
Hobart have added to my love for the human race, 
and have stimulated every fibre of my being to a 
higher conception of the worth and value of a 
man of character. His integrity and good judg- 
ment were the basis of a reputation for ability, 
honor, and justice, which the entire people recog- 
nized. No one distrusted his sincerity. All who 
knew him instinctively relied upon his judgment. 
His life was stainless and his whole career, active 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 253 

and successful as it was, contained nothing which, 
dying, he could wish to blot. Nothing received 
his approval which was not just and right. I 
do not recall a single decision made by him in this 
body which was ever reversed. " 

Senator Davis, of Minnesota, in the same strain 
said: "Something has been said in the remarks 
that have preceded as to his influence as a Vice- 
President. There was something in the large 
composition of the man which necessarily pressed 
itself upon every situation, social, business, or poli- 
tical, with which he was brought into contact." 

Senator Morgan, of Alabama, added these words 
in his speech: " I doubt if the century has recorded 
a more perfectly rounded American character 
than that of Garret A. Hobart. He appeared 
to me as nearly a perfect representation of the 
manhood and nobility of the American character 
as any man I have ever read of, certainly as any 
man I have ever seen. " 

Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, referred in 
thoughtful words to Mr. Hobart's official influence, 
saying: "There is one conspicuous public service 
rendered by Mr. Hobart, which, I think, has not 
been understood and certainly has not been ade- 
quately appreciated. He restored the Vice-Presi- 
dency to its proper position, and lifted it up before 
the people to the dignity and importance which 
it merits. . . . Out of neglect and misconcep- 
tion, Mr. Hobart silently lifted his great office 
merely by the manner in which he filled it and 



254 Garret Augustus Hobart 

performed its duties. Quietly, firmly, and with 
perfect tact, he asserted the dignity of his position, 
never going too far and always far enough. With- 
out knowing exactly why, people suddenly came 
to realize there was a Vice-President of the United 
States, that he held the second position in the 
Government, and that with the exception of the 
President he was the only man in the country 
holding office by the vote of the entire people. 
He regarded himself as a part of the administra- 
tion, and as a representative of the policies which 
that administration had been chosen to carry 
into effect; as one of the President's friends, ad- 
visers, and supporters, equally interested with 
him in the success of the measures to which they 
were alike committed. When he came to Wash- 
ington he was but little known outside his native 
State of New Jersey. When he died the whole 
country grieved, not because the Vice-President 
was dead, but because Garret A. Hobart was gone, 
who had in a time only too brief impressed himself 
upon them as a worthy holder of a great office, 
and as a distinguished public man. " 

Senator Caffery, of Louisiana, indorsed what 
had been said, adding: "I know his character and 
qualities have been portrayed before the Senate to- 
day in language too eloquent for me to attempt 
to rival or to equal. I know that they have uttered 
the living truth. I know that no word of praise 
that has fallen from the lips of those who have 
eulogized the deceased Vice-President has been 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 255 

said beyond the truth. I know that all the Sena- 
tors who have addressed us to-day have been 
animated solely by a desire to pay their tribute of 
respect and admiration, which we all, as American 
Senators, feel, to the memory of the late Vice- 
President. " 

Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, proudly 
claimed him as a descendant of a citizen of his 
State, and spoke of him "as a man of rare gifts 
of person, mind, and manners, possessed of the 
highest native intelligence, with ability to meet 
the strongest , men of the country in business 
negotiations, in legal contests, and in political 
management." 

The proceedings in the Senate closed with the 
address of Senator Kean, of New Jersey, who 
spoke as follows of the sorrow of the State in the 
death of Mr. Hobart: "The State of New Jersey 
mourns, with the union of all the States, in the 
untimely death of her distinguished son, Garret 
A. Hobart. Great as the loss has been to the 
nation, the blow has fallen with heavier force, 
and with the sense of an intimate and personal 
loss upon the people of the city and State, 
among whom his busy and useful life has been 
spent. . . . Popularity came to him as natur- 
ally as if it were an endowment of his birth. 
He made friends as easily as he kept them. 
It seemed impossible for him to make an 
enemy. ... I am here to-day to testify to the 
love that New Jersey bore for her distinguished 



256 Garret Augustus Hobart 

and lamented son — gone, alas, too early to his 
long rest." 

In the House of Representatives, speeches, 
similar in affection, respect, and sorrow to those 
in the Senate, were made on the occasion of the 
memorial session held January 26, 1900. All of 
these speeches are preserved in the memorial 
volume published by Congress. Many volumes 
could be made from the resolutions passed by 
various organizations, addresses in many cities, 
and articles in the newspapers on the life and 
character of the Vice-President. To these could 
be added expressions of respect and regard made 
for publication by members of the Cabinet, 
Governors of States, judges of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and of various courts in 
New Jersey. 

Some letters denote individual feelings which 
deserve remembrance, and are therefore inserted 
here. One from the Chief -Justice of the Supreme 
Court follows : 

Washington, Nov. 22, 1899. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

The sad intelligence reached me yesterday afternoon at 
Richmond, Va., when I was holding court. 

I write to assure you, though I feel the assurance is un- 
necessary, of the sincere sympathy of Mrs. Fuller and myself 
in your affliction. 

The Vice-President has endeared himself to us all, and 
his death carries with it a sense of personal bereavement. 

Our friends are miserable comforters under such cir- 
cumstances, but I think those who mourn are glad to know 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 257 

that they are sympathized with, though sympathy is so 
unavailing. 

Very truly yours, 

Melville W. Fuller. 

British Embassy, 
Friday, 24 Nov., '99. 
My dear Mrs. Hobart: 

Among the many letters of sincere sympathy you will 
receive, I should like to add a few lines to tell you how 
grieved I am for you in the loss of such a noble, good hus- 
band as dear Mr. Hobart. He was so charming and so 
kind, and I shall never forget what a pleasure it was to be 
with him. 

The long illness must have been a great trial, and what- 
ever people may say regarding preparation for this separa- 
tion, when it comes I believe the shock is always the same, 
with warning or none. 

I have watched the reports all the summer and hoped 
his fine physique would win the battle. 

I am truly grieved that it was not so. 

All my family join me in sorrowing for you, but I was 
the one of us who knew him best. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Maud Pauncefote. 

1 West Franklin Street, 
Baltimore, 
Tuesday Evening. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

Please let me add my word of sympathy in your 
great bereavement. You have been often in my mind, 
and your courage and devotion through his long and 
trying illness have won, I know, the admiration of his 
physicians. 

Sincerely yours, 

Wm. Osler. 



258 Garret Augustus Hobart 

1715 Massachusetts Avenue, 
Washington, D. C. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 

It is impossible for us — my wife and I — to express in any- 
fitting words our heartfelt sympathy for you in your great 
sorrow. Why should we make the vain attempt! We 
are thankful that Mr. Hobart and you came into our lives. 
We are glad that we came to know something of his warm 
and generous nature. We can never think of him as other 
than a very personal friend. As such we shall miss him 
and mourn for him. It does not seem possible we shall 
see him no more. Such abounding life, such vital energy, 
such sweetness of spirit can never cease to be. Taken from 
our sight, but not extinguished! 

"Who hath not learned in hours of faith 
The truth to flesh and sense unknown, 
That life is ever Lord of death 
And love can never lose its own." 

Faithfully yours, 

Lyman J. Gage, 
Cornelia W. Gage. 

Detroit, Nov. 22, 1899. 
Dear Mrs. Hobart: 
Our hearts are broken! 

Why! oh, why! Mrs. Alger and I ask ourselves con- 
stantly, should this be? 

He, so noble, true, brave, and useful is snatched from 
you and the dear son in his prime, and when the country he 
was serving so well needed him so much. 

God bless and keep you, dear friend, and give you 
strength to bear this heavy cross. 

Mrs. Alger joins in love and deepest sympathy in this 
dark hour. 

Sincerely your friend, 

R. A. Alger. 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 259 

An anonymous expression, which found utter- 
ance in The Outlook of December 2, 1900, gives 
a phase of Mr. Hobart's kindness of heart 
not generally presented: "If a man gets into 
trouble and stops to think who can best help 
him out, the first name that suggests itself is that 
of Hobart. And he has at one time or other helped 
so many men, that no matter what happens when 
others are in trouble, he generally succeeds in 
his mission of relief, because he must ask the 
assistance of somebody whom he has helped in 
former times. " 

Among the many private expressions of high 
regard which were published at the time, two only 
can be quoted in this memorial, one of these 
deserves a place for its just and discriminating 
conception of Mr. Hobart's character and career, 
and the competency of the writer to form a correct 
and adequate judgment. It is from Hugh Herrick, 
a resident of Paterson, a journalist, and for years 
secretary to the late William Walter Phelps, and 
the author of the admirable biography of that man. 
Intimately acquainted with the private and public 
life of Mr. Hobart, and with the political conditions 
of the times, he is notably capable of forming a true 
estimate of the Vice-President. Mr. Herrick says: 

Garret A. Hobart in many respects was a wonderful 
man. He was in the best sense of the term the architect 
of his own fortune. His rise to eminence was not helped 
by accident, by luck, or by the influence of family or 
powerful friends. 



260 Garret Augustus Hobart 

He began to hold positions of public trust as soon as he 
had attained his majority. In his earlier career he made an 
impression upon the public by giving legislative form and 
substance to what became some of the most valuable laws 
of New Jersey. 

Although when elected Vice-President he had not been 
trained to statesmanship, he had no sooner taken the office 
when unforeseen circumstances and great national events 
thrust the onerous duties of a statesman upon him, and 
those duties he discharged with an ability that sur- 
prised and gratified the country. He made the Vice- 
Presidency a power that it had never possessed before. 

His influence upon the policy and course of the national 
administration became potential, and the whole nation 
grew to feel safer in the knowledge that Garret A. Hobart 
was the second official of the Government and the confiden- 
tial adviser of the President. At the time he left the Sen- 
ate, already weighed down with the disease that proved 
fatal, he was the greatest individual force of the national 
government. 

No individual ever better understood the peculiarities 
and motives of men, or was more adroit through all the 
walks of life in removing the dangers of a threatened storm 
or evading difficulties that might become perilous. He 
possessed the rare faculty of being able to satisfy the ap- 
peals and importunities of men without gratifying their 
demands. 

His business foresight had seldom been surpassed, and as 
an organizer in business or politics he had few equals. 

It was not in his nature to harbor resentment, or to 
cherish schemes of revenge, and this was one of the ele- 
ments of his universal and deserved popularity. 

Nature gave him a warm heart and an open and kindly 
disposition. He was consequently a sympathizing coun- 
sellor and valued friend. Many a fainting heart received 
from him encouragement and strength, and not a few 



Viewed by his Contemporaries 261 

mourning households were comforted by his consolations 
and generosity. 

We shall not soon look upon his like again. 

The other expression is from the Very Rev. 
Dean McNulty, who is known and loved and 
honored by every citizen of Paterson, where for 
more than forty years he has been a faithful 
priest, a helpful friend of the poor, and a power 
for good. He said: "He was a fine man, bright 
and genial, and, as we all know, a prince of busi- 
ness men. He was a friend of everybody that 
needed a friend, and it was that which endeared 
him to so many. I have found him always ready 
to help the needy, and he has often surprised me 
by his willingness to aid when I hardly expected 
him to do so. " 



CHAPTER XXIX 
Closing Words 

NO one can have read the story of this life 
without recognizing as its distinguishing 
feature that Mr. Hobart was a man greatly 
beloved. Always and everywhere he attracted to 
himself those with whom he came in contact. In 
the volume of praise raised to his memory no 
note of discord was heard. It was literally true 
that " none named him but to praise. " 

It is also of interest to note that no one great 
deed of national importance enhanced his fame. 
He won no battle on a field of blood ; he gained no 
great victory in forensic conflict; he grasped no 
fortune from daring speculation in the market. 
His path in life cannot be traced in blood, or 
tears, or ruins. Patient industry, faithful per- 
formance of duty, and unvarying kindness of heart 
marked all his way through life. His gains were 
not at the expense of others' losses. His work 
was on the lines of the development of resources, 
the application of energies, and the increase of 
values. Others shared in his success and were 
benefited by his plans. His achievements aroused 
neither hatred nor envy. The poor and unfortu- 
nate blessed his name. 

262 



Closing Words 263 

His life shows that kindness and tact have to do 
with success and happiness, as well as talents and 
industry. The feelings of a heart thoughtful of 
others were not lost in the lawyer, the financier, 
the manager, the projector, the politician, the 
official. Neither his conduct nor his character 
was affected by prosperity. The odium so often 
attached to wealth and station never rested on 
him. In the height of his position he found the 
fulness of his fame. No hostile criticism wounded 
him while living, or mars his reputation when 
dead. 

He died in the maturity of his powers in the 
second place of honor in the land. His death 
seemed untimely, but it fixed his memory at the 
height of his fame, untouched by the feebleness 
of age, unlessened by the forgetfulness of a busy 
world. The value of his life, as a lesson for our 
age, lies in the fact that day by day with all his 
power he did the duty next at hand without wait- 
ing for a greater task. The present duty centred 
his thoughts, and gave him freedom from fore- 
boding cares and anxious aims for the future. 
Carlyle truly said: " There is no life of a good man 
but is a heroic poem of its sort. " The poem of 
this life is found in its kindness, its sincerity, and 
its fidelity to every duty. 

The story of such a life belongs to the history 
of this nation, and deserves to be remembered. It 
is still a vital force in the memories of many faith- 
ful friends and many grateful hearts. Happy is 



264 Garret Augustus Hobart 

the land in which the young are being trained in 
homes of industry, love, and piety to live true 
lives and to serve their fellows, their country, and 
their God. 



APPENDICES 



265 



APPENDIX I 
Speeches of Nomination 

J. Franklin Fort, in placing Garret A. Hobart 
in nomination, said: 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention : — I rise 
to present to this Convention the claims of New Jersey to 
the Vice-Presidency. 

We come because we feel that we can, for the first time in 
our history, bring to you a promise that our electoral vote 
will be cast for your nominees. If you comply with our 
request, this promise will surely be redeemed. 

For forty years through the blackness of darkness of a 
universally triumphant Democracy, the Republicans of 
New Jersey have maintained their organization, and fought 
as valiantly as if the outcome were to be assured victory. 
Only twice through all this long period has the sun shone 
in upon us. Yet through all these weary years, we have, 
like Goldsmith's "Captive," felt that: 

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, 

Adorns and cheers our way, 
And still as darker grows the night, 

Emits a brighter ray. 

The fulfilment of this hope came in 1894. In that year 
for the first time since the Republican party came into 
existence, we sent to Congress a solid delegation of eight 
Republicans, and elected a Republican to the United States 
Senate. We followed this in 1895 by electing a Republican 
267 



268 Appendix I 

Governor by a majority of 27,000. And in this year of 
grace we expect to give the Republican electors a majority 
of not less than 20,000. 

I come then to you to-day in behalf of New Jersey, a 
politically redeemed and regenerated State. Old things 
have passed away, and behold all things have become 
new. It is many long years since New Jersey has received 
recognition by a National Convention. 

When Henry Clay stood for protection in 1844, New 
Jersey furnished Theodore Frelinghuysen as his associate. 
The issue then was the restoration of the tariff, and was 
more nearly like that of to-day than that of any other 
period which I can recall in the nation's political history. 
In 1856, when the freedom of man brought the Republican 
party into existence, and the great " Pathfinder " was called 
to lead, New Jersey furnished for that unequal contest 
William L. Dayton as the Vice-Presidential candidate. 
Since then counting for nothing, we have asked for nothing. 
During this period Maine has had a candidate for President 
and a Vice-President; New York four Vice-Presidents, one 
of whom became President for almost a full term; Indiana, 
a President, a candidate for President and a Vice-President; 
Illinois a President four times, and a Vice-Presidential 
candidate; Ohio two Presidents, and now a candidate for 
the third time; Tennessee a Vice-President, who became 
President for almost a full term. 

We believe that the Vice-Presidency in 1896 should be 
given to New Jersey; we have reasons for our opinion. 
We have the electoral votes. We have carried the State 
in the elections of 1893, 1894, and 1895. We hope and 
believe we can keep the State in the Republican column 
for all time. By your action to-day you can greatly aid 
us. Do you believe you could place the Vice-Presidency 
in a State more justly entitled to recognition, or one which 
it would be of more public advantage to hold in the 
Republicans ranks? If the party in any State is deserving 



Speeches of Nomination 269 

of approval for the sacrifices of its members to maintain 
its organization, then the Republicans of New Jersey 
in this, the hour of their ascendency, after long years of 
bitter defeat, feel that they cannot come to this convention 
in vain. We appeal to our brethren in the South, who 
know with us what it is to be overridden by fraud in the 
ballot-box, to be counted out by corrupt election officers, 
to be dominated by an arrogant, unrelenting Democracy. 
We should have carried our State at every election for the 
past ten years, if the count had been an honest one. 
We succeeded in throttling the ballot-box stuffer, and 
imprisoning the corrupt election officers, only to have the 
whole raft of them pardoned in a day to work again their 
nefarious practices upon an honest people. But to-day, 
under ballot reform laws with an honest count, we know 
we can win. It has been a long and terrible strife to the 
goal, but we have reached it unaided and unassisted from 
without, and we come to-day promising to the ticket here 
selected the vote of New Jersey, whether you give us the 
Vice-Presidential candidate or not. 

We make it no test of our Republicanism that we have a 
candidate. We have been too long used to fighting for 
principle for that. But we do say that you can by granting 
our request, lighten our burden, and make us a confident 
party, with victory in sight even before the contest begins. 
Will we carry Colorado, Montana, and Nevada this year, 
if the Democracy declares for silver at 16 to i? Let us 
hope that we may. New Jersey has as many electoral 
votes as those three States together. Will you not make 
New Jersey sure to take their place in case of need ? We 
have in all these long years of Republicanism been the 
"Lone Star" Democratic State in the North. Our forty 
years' wandering in the wilderness of Democracy are ended. 
Our Egyptian darkness disappears. We are on the hill- 
top, looking into the promised land. Encourage us, as we 
march over into the political Canaan of Republicanism, 



270 Appendix I 

there to remain, by giving us a leader on the national ticket 
to go up with us. We are proud of our public men. 
Their Republicanism and love of country have been welded 
in the furnace of political adversity. That man is a 
Republican, who adheres to the party in a State where there 
is no hope for the gratification of personal ambitions. 
There are no camp followers in the minority party in any 
State. They are all true soldiers in the militant army doing 
valiant service without reward, gain, or the hope thereof, 
from principle only. 

A true representative of this class of Republicans in New 
Jersey we will offer you to-day. He is in the prime of life, a 
never- faltering friend, with qualities of leadership unsur- 
passed, of sterling honor, of broad mind, of liberal views, of 
wide public information, of great business capacity, and, 
withal, a parliamentarian who would grace the presidency 
of the Senate of the United States. A native of our State, 
the son of an humble farmer, he was reared to love of 
country in sight of the historic field of Monmouth, on which 
the blood of our ancestors was shed that the Republic 
might exist. From a poor country boy, unaided and alone, 
he has risen to high renown among us. In our State we 
have done for him all that the political conditions would 
permit. He has been Speaker of our Assembly and 
President of our Senate. He has been the choice for United 
States Senator of the Republican minority in the Legisla- 
ture, and had it been in our power to have placed him in the 
Senate of the United States, he would long ere this have 
been there. His capabilities are such as would grace any 
position in the nation. Not for himself, but for our State; 
not for his ambition, but to give to the nation the highest 
type of public official, do we come to this convention by the 
command of our State, and in the name of the Republican 
party of New Jersey, unconquered and unconquerable, 
undivided and indivisible, with our united voice speaking 
for all that counts for good citizenship in our State, we 



Speeches of Nomination 271 

present to you for the office of Vice-President of the 
Republic, Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey. 

J. Otis Humphrey of Illinois, in seconding this 
nomination, said: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention : — I rise 
to second the nomination, and I do so on behalf of the 
majority of the delegates of the great State of Illinois — 
Illinois, which thirty-six years ago gave to the Republican 
party her most distinguished son ; and to the world its 
greatest human character in the person of Abraham Lincoln 
— Illinois, which in the dark days of the Republic gave to 
the party the matchless silent soldier, the greatest military 
hero the world ever saw, in the person of Ulysses S. Grant — 
Illinois, which twelve years ago, for this same great office, 
presented to the Republican party the leading citizen 
soldier of the century, our own John A. Logan — Illinois, 
whose electoral vote from Lincoln to Harrison, with 
unwavering regularity, has always been given to the 
Republican party. 

On her behalf and in her name, and pledging a like 
fidelity and an equal loyalty to the nominees of the con- 
vention, I second the nomination for Vice-President, the 
Honorable Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey. 

When in the roll-call of States West Virginia 
was reached, Mr. White of that delegation said : 

Mr. Chairman :— I ask at this time, though the conditions 
are unfavorable, for the privilege of speaking for a Republi- 
can State with a Republican electoral vote, on the question 
who shall be our candidate for Vice-President. Although 
West Virginia was the first Southern State to break the Solid 
South, which it did in 1888 by electing our gallant General 
Goff, who was deprived of his seat by a Legislature Demo- 
cratic in a joint ballot by one vote, West Virginia, Mr. 



272 Appendix I 

Chairman, is here as a Southern State with a Repub- 
lican electoral vote, solid for sound money, solid for 
McKinley, and solid for Mr. Hobart of New Jersey for Vice- 
President. 



APPENDIX II 

Notification of Nomination — Senator Fair- 
banks' s Speech— Reply of Mr. Hobart 

Senator Fairbanks, chairman of the Notification 
Committee, said in informing Mr. Hobart of his 
nomination : 

Mr. Hobart:— The Republican National Convention, 
recently assembled at St. Louis, commissioned us to form- 
ally notify you of your nomination for the office of Vice- 
President of the United States. We are met pursuant to 
the direction of the Convention to perform the agreeable 
duty assigned us. 

In all the splendid history of the great party, which holds 
our loyal allegiance, the necessity was never more urgent 
for steadfast adherence to those wholesome principles, 
which have been the sure foundation-rock of our national 
prosperity. The demand was never greater for men, who 
hold principles above all else, and who are unmoved either 
by the clamor of the hour, or the promises of false teachers. 

The Convention at St. Louis in full measure met the high 
demands of the times in its declaration of party principles, 
and in the nomination of candidates for President and Vice- 
President. 

Sir, the office for which you are nominated is of rare 
dignity, honor, and power. It has been graced by the 
most eminent statesmen, who have contributed to the 
upbuilding of the strength and glory of the Republic. 



273 



274 Appendix II 

Because of your exalted personal character, and of your 
intelligent and patriotic devotion to the enduring principles 
of a protective tariff, which wisely discriminates in favor 
of American interests; and to a currency whose soundness 
and integrity none can challenge ; and because of your con- 
spicuous fitness for the exacting and important duties of 
the high office, the Republican National Convention, with 
a unanimity and enthusiasm rarely witnessed, chose you 
as our candidate for Vice-President of the United States. 

We know it to be gratifying to you personally to be the 
associate of William McKinley in the pending contest. 
For you and your distinguished associate we bespeak the 
enthusiastic and intelligent support of all our countrymen 
who desire that prosperity shall again rule throughout the 
Republic. 

Mr. Hobart replied to this address as follows : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : — I beg 
to extend to you my grateful acknowledgments for the 
kind and flattering terms in which you convey the formal 
announcement of my nomination for Vice-President of the 
United States by the Republican National Convention at 
St. Louis. I am profoundly sensible of the honor, which 
has been done me, and through me, the State in which all 
my life has been spent, in my selection as a candidate 
for this high office. I appreciate it the more because it 
associates me in a contest, which involves the very gravest 
issues, with one who represents in his private character and 
public career the highest intelligence and best spirit of his 
party, and with whom my personal relations are such as to 
afford a guarantee of perfect accord in the campaign which 
is before us. 

It is sufficient for me to say at this time that concurring 
in all the declarations of principle and policy embodied in 
the St. Louis platform, I accept the nomination tendered 
to me with a full appreciation of its responsibilities, and 



Mr. Hobart's Reply 275 

with an honest purpose in the event that the people shall 
ratify the choices made by the National Convention, to dis- 
charge any duties which may devolve upon me with sole 
reference to the public good. 

Let me add that it will be my earnest effort in the coming 
campaign to contribute in every way possible to the success 
of the party which we represent, and which, on the impor- 
tant issues of the times, stands for the best interests of the 
people. Uncertainty or instability as to the money ques- 
tion involves most serious consequences to every interest, 
and to every citizen of the country. The gravity of this 
question cannot be overestimated. There can be no 
financial security, no real prosperity where the policy of 
the Government as to that question is at all a matter of 
doubt. 

Gold is the one standard of value among all enlightened 
commercial nations. All financial transactions of what- 
ever character, all business enterprises, all individual or 
corporate investments are adjusted to it. An honest dollar, 
worth 100 cents everywhere, cannot be coined out of 53 
cents of silver, plus a legislative fiat. Such a debasement 
of our currency would inevitably produce incalculable 
loss, appalling disaster, and national dishonor. It is a 
fundamental principle in coinage, recognized and followed 
by all the statesmen of America in the past, and never yet 
safely departed from, that there can be only one basis upon 
which gold and silver may be concurrently coined as money, 
and that basis is equality not in weight, but in the commer- 
cial value of the metal contained in the respective coins. 
The commercial value is fixed by the markets of the 
world, with which the great interests of our country are 
necessarily connected by innumerable business ties which 
cannot be severed or ignored. Great and self-reliant as 
our country is, it is great not alone within its own borders, 
and upon its own resources, but because it also reaches out 
to the ends of the earth in all manifold departments of 



276 Appendix II 

business, exchange, and commerce, and must maintain with 
honor its standing and credit among the nations of the 
earth. 

The question admits of no compromise. It is a vital 
principle at stake, but it is in no sense partisan or sectional. 
It concerns all people. Ours, as one of the foremost 
nations, must have a monetary standard equal to the best. 
It is of vital consequence that this question should be 
settled now in such a way as to restore public confidence here 
and everywhere in the integrity of our purpose. A doubt 
of that integrity among other great commercial countries 
of the world will not only cost us millions of money, but that 
which, as patriots, we should treasure still more highly — 
our industrial and commercial supremacy. 

My estimate of the value of a protective policy has been 
formed by the study of the object lessons of a great indus- 
trial State extending over a period of thirty years. It is 
that protection not only builds up important industries 
from small beginnings, but that those and all other in- 
dustries flourish or languish in proportion as protection is 
maintained or withdrawn. I have seen it indisputably 
proved that the prosperity of the farmer, merchant, and 
all other classes of citizens goes hand in hand with that of 
the manufacturer and mechanic. I am firmly persuaded 
that what we need most of all to remove the business paraly- 
sis that afflicts this country is the restoration of a policy, 
which, while affording ample revenue to meet the expenses 
of the Government, will reopen American workshops on 
full time and full handed, with their operatives paid good 
wages in honest dollars; and this can only come under a 
tariff which will hold the interests of our own people 
paramount to our political and commercial systems. 

The opposite policy, which discourages American enter- 
prises, reduces American labor to idleness, diminishes the 
earning of American workingmen, opens our markets to 
commodities from abroad which we should produce at 



Mr. Hobart's Reply 277 

home, while closing foreign markets against our products, 
and which at the same time steadily augments the public 
debt, increasing the public burdens while diminishing the 
ability of the people to meet them, is a policy which must 
find its chief popularity elsewhere than among American 
citizens. 

I shall take an early opportunity, gentlemen of the com- 
mittee, through you to communicate to my fellow-citizens 
with somewhat more of detail, my views concerning the 
dominant questions of the hour, and the crisis which 
confronts us as a nation. 

With this brief expression of my appreciation of the 
distinguished honor that has been bestowed upon me, and 
this signification of my acceptance of the trust to which I 
have been summoned, I place myself at the service of the 
Republican party and of the country. 



APPENDIX III 
Garret A. Hobart's Letter of Acceptance 

In accordance with custom the following public 
letter, addressed to the Notification Committee 
of the National Convention, was issued as a 
declaration of the principles which Mr. Hobart 
held, and for which the Republican party stood: 

Paterson, N. J., September 7, 1896. 
Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, 

and others, of the Notification Committee 

of the Republican National Convention: 
Gentlemen: — 

I have already, in accepting the nomination for the office 
of the Vice-Presidency tendered me by the National Re- 
publican Convention, expressed my approval of the plat- 
form adopted by that body as the party basis of doctrine. 
In accordance with accepted usage, I beg now to supple- 
ment that brief statement of my views, by some additional 
reflections upon the questions which are in debate before 
the American people. 

The platform declarations in reference to the money 
question express clearly and unmistakably the attitude of 
the Republican party as to this supremely important sub- 
ject. We stand unqualifiedly for honesty in finance, and 
the permanent adjustment of our monetary system, in the 
multifarious activities of trade and commerce, to the 
existing gold standard of value. We hold that every dollar 
of currency issued by the United States, whether of gold, 
278 



Letter of Acceptance 279 

silver, or paper must be worth a dollar in gold, whether in 
the pocket of a man who toils for his daily bread, in the 
vault of the savings bank which holds his deposits, or in 
the exchanges of the world. 

The money standard of a great nation should be as fixed 
and permanent as the nation itself. To secure and retain 
the best should be the desire of every right-minded citizen. 
Resting on stable foundations, continuous and unvarying 
certainty of value should be its distinguishing characteristic. 
The experience of all history confirms the truth that every 
coin, made under any law, howsoever that coin may be 
stamped, will finally command in the markets of the world 
the exact value of the materials which compose it. The 
dollar of our country, whether of gold or silver, should be 
of the full value of one hundred cents, and by so much as 
any dollar is worth less than this in the market, by precisely 
that sum will some one be defrauded. 

The necessity of a certain and fixed money value between 
nations as well as individuals has grown out of the inter- 
change of commodities, the trade and business relation- 
ships which have arisen among the peoples of the world 
with the enlargement of human wants and the broadening 
of human interests. This necessity has made gold the final 
standard of all enlightened nations. Other metals, in- 
cluding silver, have a recognized commercial value, and 
silver, especially, has a value of great importance for sub- 
sidiary coinage. In view of a sedulous effort by the advo- 
cates of free coinage to create a contrary impression, it 
cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Republican 
party in its platform affirms this value in silver, and 
favors the largest possible use of this metal as actual money 
that can be maintained with safety. Not only this, it will 
not antagonize, but will gladly assist in promoting a 
double standard wherever it can be secured by agreement 
and co-operation among the nations. The bimetallic 
currency, involving the free use of silver, which we now 



280 Appendix III 

have, is cordially approved by Republicans. But a 
standard and a currency are vastly different things. 

If we are to continue to hold our place among the great 
commercial nations, we must cease juggling with this 
question, and make our honesty of purpose clear to the 
world. No room should be left for misconception as to 
the meaning of the language used in the bonds of the 
Government not yet matured. It should not be possible 
for any party or individual to raise a question as to the 
purpose of the country to pay all its obligations in the best 
form of money recognized by the commercial world. 
Any nation which is worthy of credit or confidence can 
afford to say explicitly, on a question so vital to every 
interest, what it means, when such meaning is challenged or 
doubted. It is desirable that we should make it known 
at once and authoritatively, that an "honest dollar" means 
any dollar equivalent to a gold dollar of the present standard 
of weight and fineness. The world should likewise be 
assured that the standard dollar of America is as inflexible 
a quantity as the French napoleon, the British sovereign, 
or the German twenty mark piece. 

The free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one 
is a policy which no nation has ever before proposed, and it 
is not to-day permitted in any mint in the world — not even 
in Mexico. It is purposed to make the coinage unlimited, 
at an absolutely fictitious ratio, fixed with no reference to 
intrinsic value or pledge of ultimate redemption. With 
silver at its present price of less than seventy cents per 
ounce in the market, such a policy means an immediate 
profit to the seller of silver for which there is no return now 
or hereafter to the people or the Government. It means 
that for each dollar's worth of silver bullion delivered 
at the mint, practically two dollars of stamped coin will be 
given in exchange. For one hundred dollars' worth of 
bullion, nearly two hundred silver dollars will be delivered. 

Let it also be remembered that the consequences of such 



Letter of Acceptance 281 

an act would probably be cumulative in their effects. The 
crop of silver, unlike that of hay, or wheat, or corn — 
which, being of yearly production, can be regulated by the 
law of demand and supply — is fixed once for all. The 
silver which has not yet been gathered is all in the ground. 
Dearth or other accident of the elements cannot augment 
or diminish it. Is it not more than probable that with the 
enormous premium offered for its mining, the cupidity 
of man would make an over-supply continuous, with the 
necessary result of a steady depreciation as long as the sil- 
ver dollar could be kept in circulation at all? Under the 
laws of finance, which are as fixed as those of any other 
science, the inevitable result would finally be a currency 
all and absolutely fiat. There is no difference in principle 
between a dollar half fiat and one all fiat. The latter, as 
the cheapest, under the logic of "cheap money," would 
surely drive the other out. 

Any attempt on the part of the Government to create 
by its fiat money of a fictitious value, would dishonor us 
in the eyes of other peoples, and bring infinite reproach 
upon the national character. The business and financial 
consequences of such an immoral act would be world-wide, 
because our commercial relations are world-wide. All our 
settlements with other lands must be made, not with the 
money which may be legally current in our own country, 
but in gold, the standard of all nations with which our 
relations are most cordial and extensive, and no legislative 
enactment can free us from that inevitable necessity. 
It is a known fact that more than eighty per cent of the 
commerce of the world is settled in gold, or on a gold basis. 

Such free coinage legislation, if ever consummated, 
would discriminate against every producer of wheat, cot- 
ton, corn, or rye — who should in justice be equally entitled, 
with the silver owner, to sell his products to the United 
States treasury, at a profit fixed by the Government — and 
against all producers of iron, steel, zinc, or copper, who 



282 Appendix III 

might properly claim to have their metals made into cur- 
rent coin. It would, as well, be a fraud upon all persons 
forced to accept a currency thus stimulated and at the same 
time degraded. 

In every aspect the proposed policy is partial and one- 
sided, because it is only when a profit can be made by a 
mine owner or dealer, that he takes his silver to the mint 
for coinage. The Government is always at the losing end. 
Stamp such fictitious value upon silver ore, and a dishonest 
and unjust discrimination will be made against every other 
form of industry. When silver bullion, worth a little 
more than fifty cents, is made into a legal tender dollar, 
driving out one having a purchasing and debt-paying 
power of one hundred cents, it will clearly be done at the 
expense and injury of every class of the community. 

Those who contend for the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver may believe in all honesty that while the present 
ratio of silver to gold is as thirty to one (not sixteen to one) , 
silver will rise above the existing market value. If it does 
so rise, the effect will be to make the loss to all the people 
so much less, but such an opinion is but a hazardous 
conjecture at best, and is not justified by experience. With- 
in the last twenty years this Government has bought 
about 460,000,000 ounces of silver, from which it has 
coined approximately 430,000,000 silver dollars, and issued 
$130,000,000 in silver certificates, and the price of the 
metal has steadily declined from $1.15 per ounce to sixty- 
eight cents per ounce. What will be the decline when the 
supply is augmented by the offerings of all the world? 
The loss upon these silver purchases to the people of this 
country has now been nearly $150,000,000. 

The dollar of our fathers, about which so much is said, 
was an honest dollar, silver maintaining a full parity of 
intrinsic value with gold. The fathers would have spurned 
and ridiculed a proposition to make a silver dollar, worth 
only fifty-three cents, stand of equal value with a gold one 



Letter of Acceptance 283 

worth one hundred cents. The experience of all nations 
proves that any depreciation, however slight, of another 
standard from the parity with gold, has driven the more 
valuable one out of circulation, and such experience in a 
matter of this kind is worth much more than mere interested 
speculative opinion. The fact that few gold coins are seen 
in ordinary circulation for domestic uses is no proof at all 
that the metal is not performing a most important function 
in business affairs. The foundation of the house is not al- 
ways in sight, but the house would not stand an hour if 
there were no foundation. The great enginery that moves 
the ocean steamship is not always in view of the passenger, 
but it is, all the same, the propelling force of the vessel, 
without which it would soon become a worthless derelict. 

It may be instructive to consider a moment how the 
free and unlimited coinage of silver would affect a few 
great interests, and I mention only enough to demon- 
strate what a calamity may lie before us if the platform 
formulated at Chicago is permitted to be carried out : 

There are now on deposit in the savings banks of thirty- 
three States and Territories of the Union, the vast sum of 
$2,000,000,000. These are the savings of almost 5,000,000 
depositors. In many cases, they represent the labor and 
economies of years. Any depreciation in the value of the 
dollar would defraud every man, woman, and child to whom 
these savings belong. Every dollar of their earnings when 
deposited was worth one hundred cents in gold of the present 
standard of weight and fineness. Are they not entitled 
to receive in full, with interest, all they have so deposited? 
Any legislation that would reduce it by the value of a 
single dime would be an intolerable wrong to each deposi- 
tor. Every bank or banker, who has accepted the earnings 
of these millions of dollars to the credit of our citizens, 
must be required to pay them back in money not one whit 
less valuable than that which these banks and bankers 
received in trust. 



284 Appendix III 

There are, in this country, nearly six thousand building 
and loan associations, with shareholders to the number 
of 1,800,000; and with assets amounting to more than 
$500,000,000. Their average of holdings is nearly $300 
per capita, and in many cases they represent the savings of 
men and women who have denied themselves the comforts 
of life in the hope of being able to accumulate enough to 
buy or build homes of their own. They have aided 
in the erection of over a million of houses, which are 
now affording comfort and shelter for five millions of our 
thrifty people. 

Free coinage at the arbitrary rate of sixteen ounces of 
silver to one of gold would be equivalent to the confiscation 
of nearly half the savings that these people have invested. 
It would be tantamount to a war upon American home- 
makers. It would be an invasion of "the homes of the 
provident," and tend directly to "destroy the stimulus to 
endeavor and the compensation of honest toil." Every 
one of the shareholders of these associations is entitled 
to be repaid in money of the same value which he deposited, 
by weekly payments or otherwise, in these companies. No 
one of them should be made homeless because a political 
party demands a change in the money standard of our 
country as an experiment, or as a concession to selfishness 
or greed. 

The magnitude of the disaster which would overtake 
these and cognate interests becomes the more strikingly 
apparent when considered in the aggregate. Stated 
broadly, the savings banks, life insurance and assessment 
companies, and building loan associations of the country, 
hold in trust $15,309,717,381. The debasement of the 
currency to the silver basis, as proposed by the Chicago 
platform, would wipe out at one blow approximately 
$7,654,858,690 of this aggregate. According to the report 
of the Department of Agriculture, the total value of the 
main cereal crops in this country in 1894 was $995,438,107. 



Letter of Acceptance 285 

So that the total sum belonging to the people, and held 
in trust in these institutions, which would be obliterated 
by the triumph of free and unlimited silver coinage, would 
be seven and one-half times the total value of the annual 
cereal crop of the United States. The total value of the 
manufactured products of the country, for the census year 
of 1890, was $9,372,537,283. The establishment of a silver 
basis of value, as now proposed, would entail a loss to these 
three interests alone equal to eighty-five per cent of this 
enormous output of all the manufacturing industries of the 
Union, and would affect directly nearly one third of its 
whole population. 

One hundred and forty millions of dollars per annum are 
due to pensioners of the late war. That sum represents 
blood spilled and sufferings endured in order to preserve 
this nation from disintegration. In many cases the sums 
so paid in pensions are exceedingly small; in few, if any, 
are they excessive. The spirit that would deplete these 
to the extent of a farthing is the same that would organize 
sedition, destroy the peace and security of the country, 
punish rather than reward our veteran soldiers, and is un- 
worthy of the countenance by thought or vote of any 
patriotic citizen of whatever political faith. No party, 
until that which met in convention at Chicago, has ever 
ventured to insult the honored survivors of our struggle 
for the national life by proposing to scale their pensions 
horizontally, and to pay them hereafter in depreciated 
dollars worth only fifty-three cents each. 

The amounts due, in addition to the interests already 
named, to depositors and trust companies in national, state 
and private banks, to holders of fire and accident insurance 
policies, to holders of industrial insurance, where the money 
deposited or the premiums have been paid in gold or its 
equivalent, are so enormous together with the sums due, 
and to become due, for state, municipal, county, or other 
corporate debts, that if paid in depreciated silver or its 



286 Appendix III 

equivalent, it would not only entail upon our fellow-country- 
men a loss in money which has not been equalled in a similar 
experience since the world began, but it would, at the same 
time, bring a disgrace to our country such as has never be- 
fallen any other nation which had the ability to pay its 
honest debts. In our condition, and considering our 
magnificent capacity for raising revenue, such wholesale 
repudiation is without necessity or excuse. No political 
expediency or party exigency however pressing, could 
justify so monstrous an act. 

All these deposits and debts must, under the platform of 
the Republican party, be met and adjusted in the best 
currency the world knows, and measured by the same 
standard in which the debts have been contracted or the 
deposits or payments have been made. 

Still dealing sparingly with figures, of which there is an 
enormous mass to sustain the position of the advocates 
of the gold standard of value, I cite one more fact, which is 
officially established, premised by the truism that there is 
no better test of the growth of a country's prosperity than 
its increase in the per capita holdings of its population. 
In the decade between 1880 and 1890, during which we had 
our existing gold standard, and were under the conditions 
that supervened from the Act of 1873, the per capita own- 
ings of this country increased from $870 to $1036. In those 
ten years the aggregate increase of the wealth of our country 
was $21,395,000,000, being fifty per cent in excess of the 
increase for any previous ten years since 1850, and at the 
amazing rate of over $2,000,000,000 a year. The framers 
of the Chicago platform, in the face of this fact, and of the 
enormous increase over Great Britain, during this same gold 
standard decade, of our country's foreign trade and its 
production of iron, coal, and other great symbols of national 
strength and progress, assert that our monetary standard 
is "not only un-American, but anti- American, " and that 
it has brought us "into financial servitude to London." 



Letter of Acceptance 287 

It is impossible to imagine an assertion more reckless and 
indefensible. 

The proposition for free and unlimited silver coinage, car- 
ried to its logical conclusion — and but one is possible — 
means, as before intimated, legislative warrant for the repu- 
diation of all existing indebtedness, public and private, to 
the extent of nearly fifty per cent of the face of all such in- 
debtedness. It demands an unlimited volume of fiat cur- 
rency, irredeemable, and therefore without any standard 
value in the markets of the world. Every consideration of 
public interest and public honor demands that this propo- 
sition should be rejected by the American people. 

This country cannot afford to give its sanction to whole- 
sale spoliation. It must hold fast to its integrity. It 
must still encourage thrift in all proper ways. It must 
not only educate its children to honor and respect the flag, 
but it should inculcate fidelity to the obligations of per- 
sonal and national honor as well. Both these great prin- 
ciples should hereafter be taught in the common schools 
of the land, and the lesson impressed upon those who are 
the voters of to-day and those who are to become the 
inheritors of sovereign power in this republic, that it is 
neither wise, patriotic, nor safe to make political plat- 
forms the mediums of assault upon property, the peace of 
society, and upon civilization itself. 

Until these lessons have been learned by our children, 
and by those who have reached the voting age, it can only 
be surmised what enlightened statesmen and political 
economists will record as to the action of a party convention 
which offers an inducement to national dishonesty by a 
premium of forty-seven cents for every fifty-three cents' 
worth of silver that can be extracted from the bowels of 
the whole earth, with a cordial invitation to all to produce 
it at our mints and accept for it a full silver legal-tender 
dollar of one hundred cents rated value, to be coined free 
of charge and unlimited in quantity for private account. 



288 Appendix III 

But vastly more than a mere assertion of a purpose to 
reconstruct the national currency is suggested by the 
Chicago platform. It assumes, in fact, the form of a 
revolutionary propaganda. 

It embodies a menace of national distintegration and 
destruction. This spirit manifested itself in a deliberate 
proposition to repudiate the plighted public faith, to im- 
pair the sanctity of the obligation of private contracts, to 
cripple the credit of the nation by stripping the Government 
of the power to borrow money as the urgent exigencies of 
the treasury may require, and, in a word, to overthrow all 
the foundations of financial and industrial stability. 

Nor is this all. Not content with a proposition to thus 
debauch the currency, and to unsettle all conditions of trade 
and commerce, the party responsible for this platform 
denies the competency of the Government to protect the 
lives and property of its citizens against internal disorder 
and violence. 

It assails the judicial muniments reared by the Constitu- 
tion for the defence of individual rights and the public 
welfare, and it even threatens to destroy the integrity and 
independence of the Supreme Court, which has been the 
last refuge of the citizen against every form of outrage and 
injustice. 

In the face of the serious peril which these propositions 
embody, it would seem that there could be but one senti- 
ment among right-thinking citizens, as to the duty of the 
hour. All men, of whatever party, who believe in law, 
and have some regard for the sacredness of individual and 
institutional rights, must unite in defence of the endangered 
interests of the nation. 

While the financial issue which has been thus considered, 
and which has come, as the result of the agitation of recent 
years, to occupy a peculiar conspicuousness, is admittedly 
of primary importance, there is another question which 
must command careful and serious attention. Our 



Letter of Acceptance 289 

financial and business condition is at this moment one of 
almost unprecedented depression. Our great industrial 
system is seriously paralyzed. Production in many im- 
portant branches of manufacture has altogether ceased. 
Capital is without remunerative employment. Labor is 
idle. The revenues of the Government are insufficient to 
meet its ordinary and necessary expenses. These condi- 
tions are not the result of accident. They are the outcome 
of a mistaken economic policy, deliberately enacted and 
applied. It would not be difficult, and would not involve 
any violent disturbance of our existing commercial system, 
to enact necessary tariff modifications along the lines of 
experience. For the first two fiscal years of the so-called 
McKinley Tariff, the receipts from customs were $380,807, 
980. At this writing the Wilson Tariff Act has been in 
force for nearly two full fiscal years; but the total receipts, 
actual and estimated, cannot exceed $312,441,947. A 
steady deficit, constantly depleting the resources of the 
Government and trenching even upon its gold reserve, has 
brought about public distrust and business disaster. It 
has, too, necessitated the sale of $262,000,000 of bonds, 
thereby increasing to that extent the national debt. It 
will be remembered that in no year of the more than a 
quarter of a century of continuous Republican administra- 
tion succeeding the Civil War, when our industries were 
disintegrated and all the conditions of business were more 
or less disturbed, was the national debt increased by a 
single dollar; it was, on the contrary, steadily and rapidly 
diminished. In such a condition of affairs as this, it is 
idle to argue against the necessity of some sort of a change 
in our fiscal laws. The Democratic party declares for a 
remedy by direct taxation upon a selected class of citizens. 
It opposes any application of the protective principle. 

Our party holds that by a wise adjustment of the tariff, 
conceived in moderation and with a view to stability, 
we may secure all needed revenue, and it declares that in the 



290 Appendix III 

event of its restoration to power, it will seek to accomplish 
that result. It holds, too, that it is the duty of the Govern- 
ment to protect and encourage in all practical ways the 
development of domestic industries, the elevation of home 
labor, and the enlargement of the prosperity of the people. 
It does not favor any form of legislation which would lodge 
in the Government the power to do what the people ought 
to do for themselves, but it believes that it is both wise and 
patriotic to discriminate in favor of our own material 
resources, and the utilization under the best attainable con- 
ditions, of our own capital and our own available skill 
and industry. 

The words of the Republican national platform on this 
subject are at once temperate and emphatic. It says of 
the policy of Protection: "In its reasonable application it 
is just, fair, and impartial, equally opposed to foreign con- 
trol and domestic monopoly, to sectional discrimination 
and individual favoritism. . . . We demand such an equi- 
table tariff on foreign imports, which come into competi- 
tion with American products, as will not only furnish 
adequate revenue for the necessary expenses of the Govern- 
ment, but will protect American labor from degradation 
to the wage level of other lands. We are not pledged to 
any particular schedules. The question of rates is a 
practical question, to be governed by the conditions of the 
time and of production; the ruling and uncompromising 
principle is the production and development of American 
labor and industry. The country demands a right settle- 
ment, and then it wants rest. " 

The Republican party, in its first successful national 
contest, under Abraham Lincoln, declared in favor "of 
that policy of national exchanges which secures to the 
working man living wages, to agriculture remunerative 
prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate re- 
ward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation 
commercial prosperity and independence. " The principle 



Letter of Acceptance 291 

thus enunciated has never been abandoned. In the crisis 
now upon us, it must be tenaciously adhered to. While we 
must insist that our monetary standard shall be maintained 
in harmony with that of the civilized world, that our cur- 
rency will be sound and honest, we must also remember 
that unless we make it possible for capital to find employ- 
ment and for labor to earn ample and remunerative wages, 
it will be impossible to attain that degree of prosperity 
which, with a sound monetary policy buttressed by a 
sound tariff policy, will be assured. 

In 1892, when by universal consent we touched the 
high water mark of our national prosperity, we were under 
the same financial system that we have to-day. Gold was 
then the sole standard, and silver and paper were freely 
used as the common currency. We had a tariff framed by 
Republican hands under the direction of the great statesman 
who now logically leads the contest for a restoration of the 
policy whose reversal brought paralysis to so many of our 
industries and distress upon so large a body of our people. 
We were under the policy of reciprocity, formulated by 
another illustrious statesman of the genuine American type. 
We may, if we choose to do so, return to the prosperous 
conditions which existed before the present administration 
came into power. 

My sincere conviction is that my countrymen will prove 
wise enough to understand the issues that confront them, 
and patriotic enough to apply safe and sure remedies for 
the evils that oppress us. They will not, I am sure, accept 
again at their face value the promises of a party, which, 
under desperate and perverted leadership, has so recently 
dishonored its solemn pledges, which has repudiated the 
principles and policies which have given it a historic past, 
and the success of which, as now constituted, would en- 
danger at home private security and the public safety, 
and disastrously affect abroad both our credit and good 
name. And foremost among those who will decline to 



292 Appendix III 

follow where the new Democracy leads, will be thousands 
of men, Democrats aforetime and Democrats to-day, who 
count country more than party, and are unwilling, even by 
indirection, to contribute to results so disastrous to our 
most sacred interests. 

The platform of the Republican National Convention 
states the party position concerning other questions than 
those herein referred to. These, while at the present time 
of subordinate importance, should not be overlooked. 
The Republican party has always been the defender of the 
rights of American citizenship, as against all aggressions 
whatever, whether at home or abroad. It has, to the extent 
of its power, defended those rights, and hedged them about 
with law. Regarding the ballot as the expression and 
embodiment of the sovereignty of the individual citizen, 
it has sought to safeguard it against assault, and to pre- 
serve its purity and integrity. In our foreign relations it 
has labored to secure to every man entitled to the shelter 
of our flag the fullest exercise of his rights consistent with 
international obligation. If it should be restored to ruler- 
ship, it would infuse needed vigor into our relations 
with powers which have manifested contempt and dis- 
regard not only of American citizenship, but of humanity 
itself. 

The Republican party has always stood for the protection 
of the American home. It has aimed to secure it in the 
enjoyment of all the blessings of remunerated industry, of 
moral culture, and of favorable physical environment. 
It was the party which instituted the policy of free home- 
steads, and which holds now that this policy should be 
re-established, and that the public lands, yet vacant and 
subject to entry in any part of our national territory, should 
be preserved against corporate aggression as homes for the 
people. It realizes that the safety of the State lies in the 
multiplication of households, and the strengthening of that 
sentiment of which the virtuous home is the best and the 



Letter of Acceptance 293 

truest embodiment ; and it will aim to dignify and enlarge 
by all proper legislation this element of security. 

If elected to the position for which I have been nominated, 
it will be my earnest and constant endeavor, under Divine 
guidance, in the sphere of duty assigned to me, to serve the 
people loyally along the line of the principles and policies 
of the party which has honored me with its preference. 

I am, gentlemen of the committee, 

Very truly yours, 

Garret A. Hobart. 



APPENDIX IV 

List of Official Persons Attending the Funeral 

of Vice-President Hobart at Paterson, 

New Jersey, November 25, 1899 

William McKinley 

President of the United States 

Members of the Cabinet 

John Hay, Secretary of State 

Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury 

Elihu Root, Secretary of War 

John W. Griggs, Attorney-General 

Charles Emory Smith, Postmaster-General 

John D. Long, Secretary of Navy 

Ethan A. Hitchcock, Secretary of Interior 

James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture 

Members of the Supreme Court 

Melville W. Fuller, Chief- Justice 
David J. Brewer 
Henry B. Brown 
Joseph McKenna 

Senators of the United States 

Nelson W. Aldrich, Augustus O. Bacon, 

Rhode Island Georgia 

William B. Allison, James H. Berry, 

Iowa Arkansas 

294 



Official Persons Attending Funeral 295 



Albert J. Beveridge, 

Indiana 
Julius C. Burrows, 

Michigan 
Marion Butler, 

North Carolina 
Thomas H. Carter, 

Montana 
William E. Chandler, 

New Hampshire 
Clarence D. Clark, 

Wyoming 
William A. Clark, 

Montana 
Alexander S. Clay, 

Georgia 
Francis M. Cockrell, 

Missouri 
Charles A. Culberson, 

Texas 
Shelby M. Cullom, 

Illinois 
John W. Daniel, 

Virginia 
Chauncey M. Depew, 

New York 
Stephen B. Elkins, 

West Virginia 
Charles W. Fairbanks 

Indiana 
Joseph B. Foraker, 

Ohio 
Addison G. Foster, 

Washington 
William P. Frye, 

Maine 



Jacob H. Gallinger, 

New Hampshire 
Eugene Hale, 

Maine 
Marcus A. Hanna, 

Ohio 
Henry C. Hansbrough, 

North Dakota 
William A. Harris, 

Kansas 
Joseph R. Hawley, 

Connecticut 
Henry Heitfield, 

Idaho 
George F. Hoar, 

Massachusetts 
James K. Jones, 

Arkansas 
John P. Jones, 

Nevada 
John Kean, 

New Jersey 
Richard Kenney, 

Delaware 
James H. Kyle, 

South Dakota 
William Lindsay, 

Kentucky 
Henry Cabot Lodge, 

Massachusetts 
Louis E. McComas, 

Missouri 
John L. McLaurin, 

South Carolina 
James McMillan, 

Michigan 



296 



Appendix IV 



William E. Mason, 

Illinois 
John T. Morgan, 

Alabama 
Orville H. Platt, 

Connecticut 
Thomas C. Platt, 

New York 
Boies Penrose, 

Pennsylvania 
Jeter C. Pritchard, 

North Carolina 
Redfield Proctor, 

Vermont 
William H. Scott, 

West Virginia 
William J. Sewell, 

New Jersey 



James Smith, 

New Jersey 
John C. Spooner, 

Wisconsin 
William V. Sullivan, 

Mississippi 
James P. Taliaferro, 

Florida 
Benjamin R. Tillman, 

South Carolina 
George D. Wellington, 

Maryland 
George P. Wetmore, 

Rhode Island 
Edward O. Wolcott, 

Colorado 



Members of the House of Representatives 



Robert Adams, Jr., 

Pennsylvania 
B. T. Alexander, 

New York 
De Alva S. Alexander, 

New York 
D. A. De Armond, 

Missouri 
Thomas H. Ball, 

Texas 
John A. Barnham, 

California 
M. E. Benton, 

Missouri 
Henry H. Bingham, 

Pennsylvania 



R. P. Bishop, 

Michigan 
H. S. Boutell, 

Illinois 
Marriott Brosius, 

Pennsylvania 
Walter Brownlow, 

Tennesee 
Charles H. Burke, 

South Dakota 
Champ Clark, 

Missouri 
H. D. Clarkson, 

Missouri 
Amos I. Cummings, 

New York 



Official Persons Attending Funeral 



297 



F. W. CUSHMAN, 

Washington 
W. D. Daly, 

New Jersey 
B. B. Davenor, 

Indiana 
Robert W. Davis, 

North Carolina 
John Dalzell, 

Pennsylvania 
Frank M. Eddy, 

Minnesota 
Israel Fisher, 

New York 
Charles N. Fowler, 

New Jersey 
John J. Gardner, 

New Jersey 
F. H. Gillett, 

Massachusetts 
D. B. Henderson, 

Iowa 
W. P. Hepburn, 

Iowa 
Robert R. Hitt, 

Illinois 
Benjamin F. Howell, 

New Jersey 
W. L. Jones, 

Washington 
Charles F. Joy, 

Missouri 
John H. Ketcham, 

New York 
Rudolph Kleberg, 

Texas 



L. F. Livingstone, 

Georgia 
Chester I. Long, 

Massachusetts 
H. C. Loudenslager, 

New Jersey 
J. T. Lloyd, 

Missouri 
George B. McClellan, 

New York 

D. Meekinson, 
Ohio 

David H. Mercer, 

Nebraska 
Adolph Meyer, 

Louisiana 

E. S. Minor, 
Wisconsin 

Page Morris, 

Minnesota 
Richard W. Parker, 

New Jersey 
P. Pedra, 

New Mexico 
Mahlon Pitney, 

New Jersey 
W. E. Reeder, 

Pennsylvania 
J. D. Richardson, 

Tennessee 
John F. Rixey, 

Virginia 
Gaston A. Robbins, 

Alabama 
James M. Robinson, 

Indiana 



298 Appendix IV 

Joshua S. Salmon, J. A. Tawney, 

New Jersey Minnesota 

Joseph C. Sibley, G. W. Taylor, 

Pennsylvania Alabama 

J. B. Showalter H. C. Thomas, 

Pennsylvania North Carolina 

B. F. Spalding, Lot Thomas, 

North Dakota Iowa 

James F. Stewart, George H. White, 

New Jersey Illinois 

William Sulzer, 

New York 

Other Official Persons from Washington 

John Addison Porter Adjutant-General Corbin 

George B. Cortelyou Col. Theodore A. Bingham 

Charles G. Davis B. F. Russel 

Alexander McDowell J. L. Morrison 

J. C. McIlroy 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY 

Foster M. Voorhees 
Governor 

Supreme Court 
William J. Magie, Chief- Justice 

Associate Justices 
Bennet Van Syckel Job H. Lippincott 

Jonathan Dixon William S. Gummere 

Charles G. Garrison George C. Ludlow 

Gilbert Collins 

Vice-Chancellors 
Henry^C. Pitney Alfred Reed 

John R. Emery Frederick W. Stevens 

Martin P. Grey 



Official Persons Attending Funeral 299 

George Wurts, Secretary of State 



Austin Scott 
Henry W. Green 
W. M. Johnson 
W. S. Stryker 
E. F. C. Young 



Citizens of New Jersey 

W. S. Hancock 
William Riker 
George B. Swain 
William Bettle 
L. A. Thompson 
R. F. Goodman 



Representative of Governor Roosevelt 
Colonel Treadwell, of New York 

The Union League of New York appointed as its 
representatives 



Daniel F. Appleton 
M. C. D. Borden 
Charles E. Beaman 
Henry W. Cannon 
Le Grand B. Cannon 
Andrew Carnegie 
James C. Carter 
Francis V. Greene 
Henry E. Howland 
Collis P. Huntington 
Augustus D. Juilliard 



Thomas L. James 
J. Pierpont Morgan 
Edward H. Perkins 
James W. Pinchot 
D. B. St. John Roosa 
General Wager Swain 
William L. Strong 
Grant B. Schley 
Frederick D. Tappan 
Benjamin F. Tracy 
Salem H. Wales 



There were also present personal friends: 

Ex- Vice-President Levi P. Morton 

General and Mrs. Alger 

Sir William and Lady McCormack 

James Gary and Miss Gary 

Franklin Allen 

Samuel Fessenden 



300 Appendix IV 

Representatives of the Passaic County Bar 

William Pennington Eugene Stevenson 

Thomas M. Moore William B. Gourley 

Robert Williams George S. Hilton 

Representing the City of Paterson 

Mayor John Hinchcliffe, and committees from the Board 
of Aldermen and chosen Freeholders with Sheriff Peter H. 
Hopper, Surrogate Charles M. King, County Clerk Albert 
D. Winfield, and Postmaster Kohlhaas. 

Republican Committees, Business and Benevolent As- 
sociations, and Societies and Clubs made applications for 
places in the church, but owing to its limited space these 
applications could not be granted. 



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